French ultra-right firebrand Eric Zemmour has announced he will run for president in the 2022 election, claiming he is driven by a need to “save” the Gallic people from decadence and minorities that “oppress the majority.”
On Tuesday, right-wing polemicist Zemmour announced his candidacy for the French presidency in a video full of foreboding and ominous music. Sitting at a desk in an ornate library, he speaks of his readiness to “to save the country from the tragic fate that awaits it.”
Zemmour, who has been convicted of inciting racial hatred, doubled down on his narrative that France is in decline as he spoke over images of women in headscarves and black men engaging in fights and civil disturbances. “You feel like you are no longer in the country you once knew… you are foreigners in your own country,” he stated.
“I’ve decided to run in the presidential election so that our children and grandchildren don’t suffer barbarity, so that our girls won’t be veiled… so that they can inherit a France as it was known to our ancestors,” he announced.
Listing a pantheon of French heroes from Joan of Arc to Charles de Gaulle and Jean Gabin, he claims that the once-great nation is in the process of disappearing. The 63-year-old of Algerian-Jewish descent says he cannot be content as a journalist any longer, as he does not trust French politicians to stand up for the Gallic people.
While the Paris-born polemicist only announced his candidacy on Tuesday, the man dubbed as ‘Le Trump’ has long been considered one of the most likely contenders to challenge incumbent President Emmanuel Macron in the April 2022 election.
Zemmour’s ultra-right wing, anti-Islam agenda intertwined with traditionalist values has seemingly struck a chord with parts of France’s electorate in recent times, though fellow right-wing figure Marine Le Pen has edged ahead of him in recent polls. Polling data suggests that either Zemmour or Le Pen would take Macron to a final round, head-to-head vote.
