Violence overshadows rally of French far-right hopeful
VILLEPINTE, France — Anti-racism activists were beaten up Sunday as far-right former French TV pundit Eric Zemmour held his first presidential campaign rally near Paris, a few days after he formally declared his candidacy in a video highlighting his anti-migrant and anti-Islam views.
Zemmour has drawn comparisons in France to former U.S. President Donald Trump because of his rabble-rousing populism and ambitions of making the jump from the small screen to national leadership in France’s presidential election in April.
The 63-year-old with multiple hate-speech convictions unveiled his campaign’s slogan: “Impossible is not French,” a quote attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte.
“What’s at stake is huge,” Zemmour said. “If I win that election, it won’t be one more (political) changeover, but the beginning of the reconquest of the most beautiful country in the world.”
Supporters at the rally sang France’s national anthem, shouted “Zemmour, president!” and “We will win!” while brandishing the tricolor French flag.
AP reporters saw some activists dressed in black with “No to racism” on their sweaters being beaten up by people at the rally and brutally taken out of the room. The scuffles continued outside the room between anti-racism activists and security guards.
Reporters from a French television show covering politics were booed and insulted by Zemmour’s supporters ahead of his speech, leading them to be briefly escorted outside the room by security guards. They came back soon afterward, but Zemmour harshly criticized the media in his speech.
“They are making up polemics about books I wrote 15 years ago, they snoop into my private life, call me all sort of names... My adversaries want my political death, journalists want my social death and jihadists want my death,” he said.
The rally, which was initially to held in at concert hall in Paris, was moved to a bigger exhibition center in a northern suburb of the capital for security reasons as a protest against Zemmour took place Sunday in Paris, organized by more than 50 organizations, including far-left political parties, unions and anti-racist groups.
Police had feared clashes with Zemmour’s far-right supporters.
Zemmour has gained strength on France’s political scene in recent months, starting to siphon off supporters from far-right National Party leader Marine Le Pen, who has long said she would run for the French presidency next year.
His first rally came one day after France’s main conservative Republicans party picked Valerie Pecresse, the head of the Paris region and a former minister from 2007 to 2012, as its presidential candidate.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who defeated Le Pen in the 2017 presidential runoff, is expected to seek a second term but he has yet to declare his candidacy.