Epilogue of a week marked by his rough debate with the candidate LR Valérie Pécresse, returned according to Eric Zemmour to his "centrist" profile, the visit to Moissac before a meeting in Agen allowed the Reconquest candidate to throw a new stone in the garden of her far-right rival Marine Le Pen.

Close to Marion Maréchal, Romain Lopez, one of the rare RN mayors of a town of more than 10,000 inhabitants, gave him his "trust" during a press conference in his town hall, alongside the little girl of Jean-Marie Le Pen.

Marion Maréchal praised an "important signal" of "gathering", intended to "dismiss this famous sanitary cordon or in any case to weaken it" between right and extreme right.

Moissac is "a laboratory of what we are going to do at the national level", added Mr. Zemmour all smiles despite an unfortunate episode where his security was faulted.

According to the Montauban prosecutor's office, this retired farmer, "father of a child with autism (...) without a criminal record, motivated his action by his deep disagreement" with the controversial positions of Mr. Zemmour about children with disabilities.

The candidate's entourage clarified that he would not file a complaint and even asked that he be released from police custody to "discuss with him".

The shot at the pump

Summoned to court on March 14, the septuagenarian will receive a citizenship course, said the prosecution.

The assault was condemned by Marine Le Pen and Valérie Pécresse.

After a visit to the Abbey of Moissac, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mr. Zemmour went to visit the customers of a service station faced with rising fuel prices in a staging that had forgotten to remove big hooves.

Eric Zemmour targeted took an egg during his trip to the Southwest, in Moissac on March 12, 2022. Valentine CHAPUIS AFP

Crossed a few minutes earlier at the meeting between Mr. Zemmour and local Reconquest activists, three motorists were patiently waiting to refuel at a service station in the neighboring town of Castelsarrasin.

Before listening to the candidate explain learnedly in front of the cameras that it was necessary to block the prices at 1.80 euro per liter of fuel by asking the large groups to "trim their margin".

"Chance does things well", slipped one of the motorists before going to the Agen meeting in the middle of the afternoon.

There, in a convention center where the candidate's team claimed 2,500 participants, including the "great replacement" theorist Renaud Camus, Eric Zemmour unfolded on conquered ground, between odes to rugby, to rurality, to the suburban way of life and indictment against fraud and anti-car policy, exposing large parts of its program.

"We must stop considering any motorist as a potential offender," thundered to the cheers of the candidate who fluctuates between 11 and 13% in the polls.

"With me, the state will no longer extort you."

an Eric Zemmour activist at the meeting in Agen, March 12, 2022. Valentine CHAPUIS AFP

With immigration as their number one concern, Eva and Kévin, a couple of craftsmen from Agen who have come to a meeting for the first time in their lives, still say they hesitate "between Marine or Zemmour" but the choice seems to have already been made.

"Marine Le Pen is a little overwhelmed and we know very well that she will never pass. We like her but she has regressed", they explain in unison.

The rallying of Marion Maréchal to the candidacy of Eric Zemmour is clearly a plus for them because, they say, "it's the future".

© 2022 AFP