30 to 35 percent of the French can imagine voting right-wing or extreme right-wing politicians.
A third of all French people eligible to vote.
Anyone who has always wondered how an openly right-wing radical party like Marine Le Pen's "Rassemblement National" was able to establish itself so naturally in France will be even more shocked by the successes of Éric Zemmour. For years he has been sending his sometimes openly racist messages to an audience of millions who buy his books and watch his TV appearances. In the meantime he even seemed to have overtaken Le Pen in favor of the electorate; According to the latest surveys, it is only a few percentage points behind her. And while Le Pen tried to demonize her party, Zemmour does not even make a move to explain his supporters' beating of anti-racism activists on his first election show.
In the video announcing his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election, he portrays himself like Charles de Gaulle, France's great fighter against fascism, while spreading fascist fantasies. Beethoven's Seventh Symphony will also be heard. Its premiere was dedicated to the resistance against Napoleon - which Zemmour conjures up as a symbol of France, which he supposedly wants to restore. Why does the man get so much approval despite all the obvious contradictions?
"The approval ratings for individual statements in this video are frightening," reports Britta Sandberg, SPIEGEL correspondent in Paris.
“51 percent of the French think that he is right to say that it is no longer about reforming France, but about saving the country.
According to this survey, 41 percent feel a stranger in their own country. "
Britta saw at Zemmour's campaign appearance how quickly the agitation on the podium turned into violence in the audience.
“You had the feeling that something was happening to me every minute,” she says in this podcast episode, “and from the start journalists were not welcome in this room.
This attitude was fueled by the speakers, one of them saying that journalists are 'propaganda technicians'
".
In this episode of the international podcast »Eight Billion«, Britta Sandberg explains how Zemmour's success influences the political parquet in France before the presidential elections, which parties could even benefit from it and where the French preference for right-wing parties comes from.
You can hear the current episode here:
