They both embody the extreme right in the presidential race, but are irreconcilable. Marine Le Pen, candidate of the National Rally, and Éric Zemmour, that of Reconquête!, share a deep dislike for each other.
They have a common goal, beat Emmanuel Macron next April. However, Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour, two far-right candidates launched in the presidential race, have decided not to play on the same team. In view of this adversity, Robert Ménard, who finally chose to support the candidate of the National Rally (RN), castigates “the dumbest right in the world”, qualifying Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour as “madmen”. According to the mayor of Béziers, they could both fail in the first round of the presidential election. So why take such a risk?
It must be said that the two candidates have little esteem for each other. “She finds him contemptuous. It’s normal, he has nothing but contempt for her”, explains a relative of the candidate RN in the columns of L’Opinion, this Tuesday, January 18. A reciprocal dislike. “One sentence sums up what he thinks of Le Pen. It’s when he says he prefers books, and she the cats“, ensures a framework of Reconquest! to our colleagues. In summary, Marine Le Pen criticizes Éric Zemmour for plundering his electorate, when he makes fun of his opponent’s incompetence, preferring his niece, Marion Maréchal.
⋙ PHOTOS – Like Marine Le Pen, these 26 personalities have chosen shared accommodation
The National Rally denounces “electoral manipulation”
On the side of the executives of the two camps, the contempt reaches summits. “Honestly, I’ll tell you: I don’t think I could vote for Eric Zemmour if he is in the second round of the presidential election”, assures a prominent member of the RN to L’Opinion. According to our colleagues, members of Marine Le Pen’s entourage would even denounce a “electoral manipulation” fueled by Patrick Stefanini, campaign manager for Valérie Pécresse, Republican candidate. “We have often fought him on the pitch. We know his strategy to beat the far right: he builds dissenting lists to divide the electorate“, we denounce on the side of the National Rally.
Photo credits: Gerard Cazade / Panoramic / Bestimage