The right-wing politician Marine Le Pen and her competitor, even further to the right, Éric Zemmour, fought a long-distance duel a good two months before the French presidential elections. The two contenders for the office of head of state each appeared in front of thousands of supporters in northern France on Saturday and swore them to the decisive phase of the election campaign.
In his speech in Lille, the publicist Zemmour, who has been convicted several times for racist remarks, railed against the “major population exchange” allegedly financed by France and involving a massive Islamization of the country. He gave the example of the northern French city of Roubaix, which he described as “Afghanistan two hours from Paris”. “France disappears under the terrified eyes of the French.”
As president, he would abolish social benefits for foreigners, only grant asylum to a few dozen people a year, and in this way also strengthen the purchasing power of the French. According to the responsible prefecture, around 1,100 people protested against Zemmour’s appearance in Lille.
Le Pen used similar tones in her speech in Reims. She wants to protect the French against the “immigrant flood”. Uncontrolled immigration is turning parts of the country into non-France zones. President Emmanuel Macron has run down the country financially, contributed to the division of society and is arrogant and depressing.
Zemmour could pose a threat to Le Pen in the election. He has already poached several heads of their Rassemblement National party and is courting similar voters. A poll on Saturday saw him level with Le Pen on 14 percent of the vote, just behind conservative Valérie Pécresse (16.5 percent) and well behind incumbent Macron (24 percent).