Journalist Eric Zemmour joined the election race in France six months before the presidential election. He has a chance for success.
Such a development cast doubt on the announced remake of the 2017 duel between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen (National Rally, formerly known as the National Front).
French President Emmanuel Macron can count on 24-27 percent of the vote in the first round of the elections scheduled for April 2022, a poll conducted by Ifop Institute poll for TF1/LCI stations said.
Macron is not likely to win more than 50 percent of the vote required for his immediate re-election.
Marine Le Pen will be able to gain 17-18 percent of the vote in the first round. Non-systemic candidate — journalist and writer Eric Zemmour (he writes a column for Figaro) comes third. The journalist, who shares conservative views, may count on 16-17 percent of the vote.
The list continues with another right-wing candidate: the head of the Hauts-de-France region, Xavier Bertrand, with 15 percent of the vote.
None of the left-wing candidates will gain more than ten percent of the popular vote:
The poll was conducted on October 14-15 on a representative sample of 1,391 people included in the electoral lists.
According to a Harris Interactive poll, Zemmour could qualify for the second round with 17-18 percent of the vote.
According to Ipsos/Sopra Steria senior representative Brice Teinturier, Eric Zemmour's dynamics is not artificial. The expert explains his explosive growth in popularity by the fact that almost 25 percent of voters, just like Zemmour, believe that France is in decline, that the elites have suffered a defeat, and that the main reason for most problems that France is facing is immigration.
Previously, this electorate voted for Marine Le Pen. However, Zemmour managed to split this electorate by propagating nationalist topics even more vigorously, Brice Teinturier believes.
"Islam is incompatible with France. If I do not make a distinction between Islam and Islamism, it is because they are the same for me," Zemmour said in a debate with French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
He believes that France's enemies are leftist forces, feminists and the elite. Zemmour defends the conspiracy theory, according to which globalists want to replace the white majority society in Europe with a society consisting primarily of Arabs and Africans. He brings up such issues as "the war of civilizations", "the struggle of corporations" and "war between races". He insists that France is facing a "mortal danger."
All this resonates with many in today's France. Zemmour's book The French Suicide has sold 500,000 copies. His broadcasts, which he has been hosting on CNews since the fall of 2019, attract millions.
On Monday, Zemmour told BFMTV that the Macron government has shown its imperfection in the coronavirus crisis.
"Fighting the virus is absolute nonsense,” he said. He also opposed lockdowns during Covid, claiming that it was a China-inspired policy.
It is important that the Le Pens — the father and his daughter — have always had an unsurmountable barrier around them, but today they have lost their erstwhile respect. With Zemmour, everything is different — he is welcome everywhere, including in the media.
In an interview with Le Monde published this Saturday, Jean-Marie Le Pen stated that he could support a candidate other than his daughter in the 2022 presidential election if that would guarantee victory on the national flank.
"If Eric is the best candidate from the national camp, of course, I will support him," said the founder of the National Front.