French far-right polemicist gives 'the finger' on campaign tour
Far-right polemicist Éric Zemmour, who is forecast to announce this week he is standing in France's 2022 presidential elections, has admittted he was 'inelegant' in returning a middle-finger gesture to a woman during his campaigning in Marseille, when he joined the gesture with the comment, 'and very deep'.
ÉricÉric Zemmour, the far-right pundit expected to enter the French presidential race this week, has stirred further controversy with an “up yours” gesture to an opponent, reports The Times.
The incident occurred at the end of a turbulent visit to Marseille, when a woman approached his car and stuck up her middle finger. Zemmour, 63, replied with the same gesture, adding that his finger was designed to go “very deep” as Sarah Knafo, 28, his pregnant partner and adviser, laughed at his side.
The clash brought accusations that Zemmour, a political novice whose poll ratings had soared on the back of his anti-Islam and anti-immigrant rhetoric, lacked the self-control necessary for a presidential campaign. In a Twitter message addressed to the woman with whom he exchanged gestures, Zemmour said he had used “the only language you and your comrades ... understand immediately ... Nevertheless, I agree ... that it was very inelegant to have imitated you”.
