Two weeks before the presidential election, the far-right candidate held a meeting at the Trocadéro in Paris on Sunday. According to him, 100,000 “French people who stop at nothing” made the trip.
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Éric Zemmour’s meeting at the Trocadéro “says that there is a Zemmour phenomenon”estimates Sunday March 27 on franceinfo, the expert at the Jean Jaurès Foundation, Mathieu Souquière. “He has a real ability to mobilize” and it is, according to him, “a real show of strength”. However, “We can imagine that the 15-day sequence that opens will be less unfavorable for him.“
franceinfo: Éric Zemmour’s entourage assures that he did not hear the slogan “Macron assassin” at his meeting. Does he want to avoid controversy?
Mathieu Souquiere: He can hardly accept that, but it is not really a surprise to hear this kind of remark in a meeting of Éric Zemmour. From the beginning, he is the one who stands out for the radicalism of his speech. It is therefore not surprising that we can hear echoes among his supporters of remarks that are relatively difficult to assume. This meeting says in any case that there is a Zemmour phenomenon. Admittedly, it claims 100,000 people in a place that can only contain 50,000. But in any case, it has a real capacity for mobilization, outside of any formerly instituted organization.
What is his objective in claiming to be “the only right-wing candidate”?
It’s been his equation from the start. He came to hit Marine Le Pen on her extreme right, explaining that she was on the left. He also claims to embody the bridge with the Republican right and the fact is that the electoral communicating vessels partly give him reason since he founded his rise by siphoning votes from both camps. It introduces the union of lines as a completely new theme. The extreme right did not want it, denouncing the UMPS, and the right either, invoking the conflict of values. This is the first time that a candidate has assumed that the right and the far right must unite.
All this in a context all the same of a drop in the polls. How do you explain it?
It is around 10 to 12% in the various opinion polls, so be careful not to bury it too quickly. He is clearly the one who, of all the candidates, pays the most for his position vis-à-vis Putin, Russia, and his initial refusal to welcome Ukrainian refugees. But he has already shown an ability to rebound. We will also see to what extent this meeting, which is a real demonstration of strength and popular fervor, can contribute to this. One can imagine that the sequence of 15 days which opens and which is decisive is less unfavorable for him.