Far-right polemicist Éric Zemmour has vowed to reverse the immigration he blames for undermining France’s identity and core values if he wins the country’s upcoming presidential election. FRANCE 24 spoke to his supporters who gathered by the thousands in Paris on Sunday.
A writer and talk show pundit known for his polarising attacks on Muslims and immigrants, Zemmour emerged as the election’s dark horse early on in the campaign, drawing from both the mainstream conservative camp and voters disappointed by the far right’s traditional champion, Marine Le Pen. He has since slipped down the table in voter surveys, polling at around 10-11 percent, though his supporters still rank among the most raucous and motivated ahead of the first round of the election on April 10.
On Sunday, tens of thousands gathered at the Trocadéro in Paris, facing the Eiffel Tower, hoping to inject new momentum into his campaign. They included veteran far-rightists, staunch Catholics, anti-LGBT activists and anti-vaxxers for whom Zemmour is the best candidate to halt immigration, restore order and uphold traditional French values.
-
Eugénie, 18, defending ‘Christian values’
Donning a “Zemmour 2022” cap and a baptism medal wrapped around her neck, 18-year-old Eugénie is getting ready to cast her very first ballot on April 10 – and she could hardly be more thrilled about her choice of candidate. “I never thought I’d support someone with such fervour,” she says. “I’m lucky to be casting my first vote for a candidate I really like.” The philosophy student was just 9 years old when she first took part in a Paris rally, back in 2013, to oppose marriage for same-sex couples. Nine years on, she’s back on the streets of the French capital to “prove that Zemmour is not alone, contrary to what the media claim”.
A practising Catholic, Eugénie stresses the former pundit’s “love of France (...) and the fact that he’s the only candidate to defend Christian values”. He’s also “the only one to challenge the transhumanist movement [advocates of human-enhancement technologies]”, she argues, praising Zemmour’s conservative stance on “bioethical debates that undermine society”. While she acknowledges that transhumanism is a niche concern, even for the far-right candidate, Eugénie wholeheartedly subscribes to his core policy: his pledge to halt, and indeed reverse, immigration.
“It’s good to be humane and welcoming towards foreigners, but when there is a refusal to assimilate we cannot surrender our culture,” says the young Zemmouriste, whose champion has called for a ban on “non-French” first names. Eugénie is aware that Zemmour has slipped behind his rivals in the race for the all-important runoff. But she already has a Plan B in the other far-right candidate, Marine Le Pen, who is polling in second place behind the incumbent, Emmanuel Macron.
-
Marc, 57, dreading a ‘great replacement’
“I live nearby, it’s a nice day, I’ve come to gauge the atmosphere,” says 57-year-old Marc, observing the raucous crowd gathered on the Trocadéro. An anti-vaxxer and opponent of the Covid-19 health pass, he describes himself as the “family’s ugly duckling”. “I didn’t get the Covid jab, unlike my mother and brother who sold out to Macron,” he says. Born to a French mother and Yugoslav father, Marc says he can identify with Zemmour, whose parents left their native Algeria when it was still a French territory. In fact, he claims “lots of people of immigrant background can relate to Zemmour”.
Like the far-right candidate, Marc says he is most concerned about the so-called “great replacement”, a conspiracy theory purporting that white Europeans are being replaced by immigrants from Africa and the Middle East, with the complicity of political elites. “It’s not just a theory, it’s everywhere,” says the self-employed part-time worker in the building industry, pointing to the “growing number of women wearing (Muslim) veils in Paris and its suburbs”. Aside from immigration, Marc also agrees with Zemmour’s stances on education and his opposition to “woke” ideas. “Finally, we have a candidate who challenges all the anti-racist, feminist and LGBT talk we are constantly fed by the media,” he says.
>> Read more: Pushing far-right agenda, French news networks shape election debate
-
Ana, 53, from Fillon to Zemmour
Portuguese-born “but very well assimilated, like Zemmour wants”, 53-year-old Ana is perfectly at ease with Zemmour’s hardline stance on immigration. “All of my children have French names, it’s important for them to integrate,” says the mother of four, who travelled from Bellême in Normandy to attend the rally in Paris. A longtime Zemmour fan, Ana was first drawn to the far-right pundit by his televised appearances back in the 1990s and has read every one of his books. She’s a regular participant at his rallies, when she isn’t busy running the kitchen of her restaurant.
A devout Catholic, Ana voted for conservative candidate François Fillon in 2017. Five years on, she sees Zemmour as the champion of Christian values. “He’s the only one with a plan to save our civilisation from the ‘great replacement’. Our race is in decline and we’re heading for catastrophe,” she says, describing Zemmour as an opportunity for France. Ana is convinced the former pundit would have averted the war in Ukraine had he been in power. “He would have known how to negotiate with Putin because he is a man of peace,” she says of Zemmour, who has frequently praised the Russian president, once saying he longed for a “French Putin”.
-
Florent, 40, yearning for order
Another longtime supporter, Florent signed up for Zemmour’s fledgling party “Reconquête !” at the first opportunity. “I like his ideas, his personality and his background too. He’s the only one to cast a lucid eye on the situation, particularly when it comes to immigration,” says the 40-year-old school supervisor from the leafy Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud, for whom the “great replacement” is well underway.
“When you see the number of veiled women increasing in a wealthy town like Saint-Cloud, where I live, it means immigration is everywhere,” he claims. “What will the country look like in 20 years? We must act now.” Florent is also drawn to Zemmour’s education platform, with its focus on discipline. “Every day I see kids falling by the wayside. We must restore order to the system,” he says. However, Florent is increasingly pessimistic about his candidate’s chances of qualifying for the run-off. If he fails, he will vote for Le Pen, “without a doubt” – as he has done in the past. “Everything must be done to get rid of Macron,” he adds.
-
Séverine, 42, disappointed by Le Pen
A one-time Le Pen supporter, 42-year-old Séverine recently switched her allegiance to Zemmour, angered by Le Pen’s jabs at the former pundit. “I didn’t like it when Le Pen branded him ‘far right’,” she says. “And when she had a go at him for having ‘Nazis’ in his party, it was really absurd, because she has the very same problem.” An administrative worker in a suburb of Paris, Séverine says she leans “neither right nor left” and is drawn to Zemmour’s earnest talk. “He’s not a politician, he’s a man of the people, like a family friend,” she says of the hardline polemicist, who has two convictions for hate speech and is appealing a third.
While she does not live in the countryside, Séverine approves of Zemmour’s promise to hand struggling rural families a €10,000 cheque. She also backs him to halt “the decline in France’s education system”. Holding up a banner that reads “Women with Zemmour”, she dismisses the accusations of misogyny levelled at the far-right candidate, who has repeatedly blasted feminist campaigns and attempts to introduce gender parity in government. “Such accusations are totally unfounded,” she claims. “I even get the impression there are more women than men at his rallies.”
This article was adapted from the original in French.
