Zemmour Announces Candidacy for French Presidency

The right-wing commentator and journalist has officially announced his run for the 2022 French presidential election. (Wikimedia Commons)

Éric Zemmour, a popular French right-wing political commentator, announced his run for the presidency on November 30. There has been speculation throughout the fall as to when Zemmour would officially declare a run for office, especially after consistently polling close to conservative party National Front’s leader Marine Le Pen throughout October and November.

Zemmour, born to a Jewish family from Algeria, has become a polarizing figure across France for his right-wing views, including nationalism, xenophobia, nativism, and Islamophobia. He has most recently been a host of his own television show on right-leaning broadcast network CNews. 

In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Zemmour announces that he is running to save France from both decadence and minorities who “oppress the majority” in France. Amassing nearly three million views as of December 4, the ten-minute long video includes ominous background music, footage of Black men in the metro, women wearing headscarves, and CCTV footage of street violence. 

In the video, Zemmour speaks to large crowds across France and, harkening back to Charles de Gaulle’s June 18, 1940 speech from London, reads into a vintage microphone in an interview format. He says, “I settled for the roles of journalist and writer, the role of Cassandra, the role of whistle-blower. I thought a politician would eventually take up the torch.” He continues by saying that “it is no longer time to reform France. It is time to save it … I have decided to ask for your votes to become your president of the Republic. So that our children and grandchildren won't have to face barbarism, so that our daughters won't have to wear the Muslim headscarf, so that our sons won't have to submit.” 

This is not the first time Zemmour has been the proponent of targeted hate speech. Earlier in November, Zemmour faced a third hate speech trial for calling unaccompanied migrant children rapists and murderers.

Zemmour's criticism of Islam and immigration has garnered support both from Le Pen's voter base and from conservative voters but has also pushed away some voters from the right wing that Le Pen had sought to keep. In a Harris Interactive poll published November 30 that surveyed French voters before Zemmour confirmed his widely expected candidacy, Zemmour was down three to four points at around thirteen percent. 

Zemmour will hold his first official campaign meeting on the morning of December 5 in Paris, an event that both unions and anti-fascism activists plan to attend in protest of Zemmour’s candidacy.