The far-right candidate seemed to be searching for his words during his conclusion Monday evening on TF1, during the election evening devoted to the war in Ukraine, a subject which has handicapped his campaign for almost three weeks.
"He was very, very good during the show and very moved at the end, up to the subject", replies the leader of his youth movement, Stanislas Rigault, who denies any sudden fatigue.
On the militant Telegram loops, to which AFP had access, supporters consider his fifteen-minute interview "excellent" but were surprised by the tone of the conclusion.
“Complicated the end”, slips one of them, “he crashed a little on the conclusion”, abounds another.
"He was a little stressed, but in truth, I find him sincere", nuances a third.
remobilize
Thursday, activists had also poured out online after a debate deemed disappointing against Valérie Pécresse.
Executives of Reconquest!, like the former number 2 of LR Guillaume Peltier, had finally connected to remobilize the troops.
There were also some blunders such as the staging of an impromptu exchange between the candidate and three motorists - ultimately identified as Eric Zemmour activists - on Saturday at a Castelsarrasin service station (Tarn-et-Garonne).
This week, Eric Zemmour has opted for a slightly lighter program.
He gave up opening his Parisian headquarters to the press on Tuesday evening to unveil a new campaign poster, which will eventually be presented on a television channel.
He also chose not to participate in several "great orals" to which the various candidates were invited, Tuesday before local elected officials, then Thursday before the French Hospital Federation or the French National Olympic and Sports Committee.
Tuesday, he had "a conflict of agenda" because "of a very important appointment planned at the last minute", assures his entourage.
And his program "is hardly lightened in reality because he is working on his Metz speech" - a meeting is scheduled there for Friday - "and his next broadcasts".
"All the teams of candidates are tired. There is a big rhythm. There is nothing specific to Eric Zemmour", insists Laurence Trochu, one of his spokespersons.
The candidate Reconquest!
French presidential candidate Eric Zemmour (c) flanked by one of his spokespersons Laurence Trochu (g) in Paris, March 8, 2022 EMMANUEL DUNAND AFP / Archives
"The campaign is taking place in a context that is not easy, between the Covid and the war in Ukraine. But it must not deprive us of a debate on the major issues that await France", adds- she.
Eric Zemmour had already estimated that the war in Ukraine "diverts attention" from "major subjects" such as the fight against immigration, his hobbyhorse, and "the clash of civilizations".
"Inoperative"
On the polls front, the rallying of Marion Maréchal, the niece of Marine Le Pen, has so far not moved the first round voting intentions, which stagnate between 11 and 13% of the vote, when Marine Le Pen (RN) seems to resist, between 16 and 18%.
"This rallying was ineffective in the dynamics of the campaign," said Pierre Meurin, a former collaborator of Marion Maréchal and repentant zemmourist.
Eric Zemmour's team stresses for its part that 70 to 80% of its voters polled in the surveys are "sure of their choices", when other electorates, such as that of the LR Valérie Pécresse are "more volatile" (63% security of choice, according to Ifop on Tuesday).
The candidate Reconquest!
to the French presidential Eric Zemmour during the recording of the program "La France face a la guerre" on the TF1 channel in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, March 14, 2022 Ludovic MARIN POOL / AFP
The former polemicist relies heavily on his meetings which are full, in particular on a show of force at the Trocadéro on March 27 in Paris, where Reconquest!
expects between 30,000 and 50,000 people in the open air.
He once again criticized Marine Le Pen on Tuesday for refusing to debate with him on television.
His lieutenants also promise to crisscross France with a hundred meetings until April 8, starting Wednesday with a public meeting with Marion Maréchal and Guillaume Peltier in Saint-Jean-Le-Blanc (Loiret), near Orléans.
© 2022 AFP