Sunday, December 5th, 2021
Election campaign in France
Thousands cheer right-wing Zemmour
The far-right publicist Zemmour announced on Tuesday that he would take part in the presidential election in France. Thousands of his supporters are now gathering for his first major election campaign event. Zemmour is seen as a competitor for right-wing populist Le Pen.
Accompanied by a large police presence, the right-wing extremist publicist Eric Zemmour completed his first major election campaign event in France. According to the organizers, thousands of supporters gathered in an exhibition hall in the Paris suburb of Villepinte. “You are 15,000 today,” Zemmour shouted to the cheering crowd. “15,000 French who defied political correctness, left-wing threats and media hatred.”
“If I win, it will be the beginning of the reconquest of the most beautiful country in the world,” said Zemmour. In his speech he complained that he was being persecuted by a “pack of politicians, journalists and jihadists” and that his opponents had labeled him a “fascist, racist and misogynist”. Zemmour sometimes represents extremely anti-migration and nationalist positions and has therefore already been convicted twice for sedition.
Police on alert
More than 400 journalists were accredited for the right-wing candidate’s first official election campaign event. Police were on alert after left-wing activists disrupted Zemmour’s visit to Marseille last weekend.
In Paris, according to the prefecture, around 2,200 people protested against Zemmour, whom they accused of racism. An alliance of dozens of trade unions, parties and associations had called for the demonstration. The organizers spoke of 10,000 participants. “It is important to show that we do not allow fascism to gain ground,” said a spokesman for the Solidaires union. Counter-demonstrators also gathered in front of the venue in Villepinte.
Zemmour has been stirring up the pre-election campaign in France for weeks. On Tuesday, he finally announced that he would run for the presidential election in April 2022. The former journalist, who comes from an Algerian-Jewish family, is given the chance to make it into the runoff election against incumbent Emmanuel Macron instead of right-wing populist Marine Le Pen. In the polls, he had temporarily overtaken Le Pen, who was defeated by Macron in the runoff election in 2017. Recently, however, his campaign stalled.