Eric Zemmour

Ex- French presidential candidate Zemmour fined over racist comments

France — Link

His €4,000 fine came after being convicted for comments he made in TV debate when he  referred to the first name of fellow speaker Hapsatou Sy as an "insult to France".

'I thought I'd blend in': the naturalised Congo-born woman who adopted a French first name

France

Late in 2022 the far-right polemicist and former presidential candidate Éric Zemmour stood trial accused of verbal abuse of a racial nature. This followed a comment he made to television presenter Hapsatou Sy that African names such as hers were an “insult to France”; the verdict will be delivered in January. As part of a series about people who have suffered everyday hatred in France, Mediapart spoke to a young woman who came here from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2002 as a child and who herself later chose to adopt a more “French-sounding” first name - in her case, Caroline. At the time, she says, the far-right were knocking on the doors of power, she wanted to become a French citizen and she felt her new name would help her 'blend in' with French society. Instead, says Caroline, she lost her way. Lou Syrah reports.

The French far-right's election dilemma: a family split between Le Pen and Zemmour

France — Report

For three generations Melinda and Dylan's family from northern France has voted steadfastly for the far-right Le Pen family at elections; first Jean-Marie Le Pen, who founded the Front National, and more recently his daughter Marine Le Pen who is president of its successor party Rassemblement National. However, the decision on who to vote for has now been thrown into question by the presence of another far-right candidate in April's French presidential election, the polemicist Éric Zemmour. The dilemma, one faced by many voters across the country, threatens to divide the family. Lucie Delaporte reports.

Row over 'Macron murderer' chant as official election campaign begins

France — Link

Launch of 2022 vote comes amid row over Éric Zemmour supporters chanting ‘Macron assassin’ at rally.

Far-right candidate says Ukrainian refugees welcome, not Muslims

International — Link

Far-right French presidential election candidate Éric Zemmour said he agreed that Ukrainian refugees should be given visas to enter France 'if they have family' in the country, but that 'Arab or Muslim immigrants are too unlike us'.

Marine Le Pen’s niece backs far-right rival in French election

France — Link

Marion Maréchal’s shift to support Eric Zemmour intensifies debate over direction of rightwing politics in France.

French far-right candidates get required signatures for election bid

France — Link

French far-right candidates Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour passed the threshold of 500 signatures on Tuesday.

The French far-right's embarrassing pre-invasion views on Russia and Ukraine

International — Analysis

The French presidential election is about to get underway in earnest with President Emmanuel Macron finally set to announce his candidature ahead of the elections in April. According to opinion polls his two main rivals are both from the far-right: the Rassemblement National president Marine Le Pen and maverick polemicist Éric Zemmour. Yet both are set to be embarrassed by the far-right's long-held support of Vladimir Putin at a time when Russia has just sparked outrage around the world by invading Ukraine. As historian Nicolas Lebourg reports, the two candidates will find it hard to reconcile the far-right's general support for Putin's regime and the risk of being seen as traitors to French national interests.

Zemmour and Le Pen's French presidential bids in jeopardy

France — Link

Local mayors and MPs refuse to back the far-right candidates in election qualifying stage over fears of public backlash. 

Marine Le Pen says far-right rival Zemmour’s camp has ‘a few Nazis’

France — Link

Feud between the pair escalates, as French far-right contenders bid to rally support. 

Leave now if you want Le Pen tells members after rift with niece

France — Link

Marine Le Pen  was dealt a blow when Marion Maréchal said that far-right rival Éric Zemmour was a better candidate than her aunt ahead of Aprils presidential election in France. 

The wealthy donors funding French far-right presidential candidate Éric Zemmour

France — Investigation

Last November, far-right polemicist Éric Zemmour, a newspaper columnist and TV pundit with several conviction for hate speech, announced he was standing in France’s presidential elections. Without an established party apparatus behind him, Zemmour’s campaign team have been networking the wealthy in search of financial donors. Mediapart has gained access to documents that reveal the identities of 35 of the largest donors, mostly found through fundraising dinners where guests include industrialists, bankers, high-flying lawyers and management consultants. Sébastien Bourdon, Ariane Lavrilleux and Marine Turchi report.

French far-right presidential hopeful Zemmour fined for hate speech

France — Link

A Paris court has ordered maverick far-right polemicist Eric Zemmour to pay a fine of 10,000 euros after finding him guilty of hate speech during a television appearance when he described unaccompanied migrant children as "thieves", "rapists" and "murderers".

French minister seeks to ban ultra-right group after meeting violence

France — Link

French interior minister Gérald Darmanin has announced legal moves to dissolve an ultra-right group called Zouaves Paris after its members were identified assaulting anti-racist demonstrators at a meeting of far-right presidential election candidate Éric Zemmour.

How anti-fascists get dubbed 'fascists': the French far-right ploy to subvert language

France — Analysis

How is it that 'antifas' or anti-fascist activists are now described as “fascist” in certain quarters of the French media? Or that anti-racists have become the new racists? Lucie Delaporte looks at the way in which the French far-right have long subverted the meaning of words in a deliberate attempt to make extremist labels meaningless.