Meteoric rise of Éric Zemmour

Far-right French TV pundit Éric Zemmour recently overtook Marine Le Pen in the polls for the first time, suggesting he rather than she could challenge Emmanuel Macron in the 2022 presidential election


ÉRIC ZEMMOUR, 63

Born in Paris to Jewish Berbers who emigrated from Algeria in 1950s

Longtime journalist for conservative daily Le Figaro, Zemmour has written best-selling books on topics such as supposed incompatibility of Islam with secular French values, immigration and crisis of French manhood

Attracts huge audiences on talk-show on CNews – increasingly popular TV channel that critics liken to Fox News in U.S.

Twice convicted of racial or religious provocation, Zemmour is seeking to use notoriety built up on TV channel into presidential run and is expected to soon declare his candidacy


2022 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION VOTING INTENTIONS*

Emmanuel Macron La République En Marche! 24%
Éric Zemmour 17%
15% Marine Le Pen Rassemblement National
13% Xavier Bertrand (scenario as LR candidate)
11% Jean-Luc Mélenchon La France Insoumise
6% Anne Hidalgo Parti Socialiste
6% Yannick Jadot Europe Écologie-Les Verts
2% Nicolas Dupont-Aignan Debout la France
             

*Harris Interactive poll of 1,310 respondents conducted Oct 1-4, 2021. Margin of error ± 1.8-3.8 points


Sources: AFP, FT, The Guardian, Reuters 
Picture: Getty Images 
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