The French far-right journalist and commentator Éric Zemmour has stepped down from his nightly TV show, heightening speculation that he could make an outsider bid to run in next year’s French presidential election, reports The Guardian.
The 63-year-old, who was a political journalist for Le Figaro, holds convictions for inciting hatred and is best known for his TV diatribes against immigration and Islam.
After posters saying “Zemmour president” went up in parts of Paris earlier this summer, his supporters have been reported to be raising funds for a potential campaign. Zemmour begins a book tour this week on which he will meet fans at large venues and walkabouts, although he has yet to announce a bid for the presidency.
The French CSA media regulator has decided to class Zemmour as a politician rather than a journalist. This meant that on Monday, the rolling news TV channel CNews had little choice but to temporarily halt Zemmour’s popular nightly appearances. French law states that there must be an even balance in airtime between political candidates and parties.
Described by critics as making the far-right, anti-immigration Marine Le Pen look soft, Zemmour has been attacked by rights groups, who say he incites racial hatred. He has been called a “prophet of pessimism” and a “salesman of the apocalypse” and his finger-jabbing oration is peppered with historical references to Napoleon and Joan of Arc.