Fighting for French far-right candidate Zemmour has been hampered by fighting News

In Eric Zemmour’s campaign speech, they threw chairs that stood up with “No Racism” T-shirts at left-wing activists.

French far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour has launched his presidential campaign in front of thousands of cheering supporters at a rally in Paris where the struggle is mixed.

Zemmour, a 63-year-old veteran author and television commentator, announced on Tuesday that he would run in next April’s election, joining the ranks of challengers seeking to oust centrist President Emmanuel Macron.

He held his first event at an exhibition center in a suburb of Paris, where thousands of people cheered on all the mentions of reducing immigration and loudly chanted all the references to Macron.

“The stakes are high: if I win, it will be the beginning of the recovery of the most beautiful country in the world,” Zemmour told the crowd.

Fractures

Fighting broke out and threw chairs at activists standing on T-shirts with the words “No to Racism” standing, and at least two of them were seen bleeding when they were expelled from the auditorium.

A well-known but critical group on Quotidi’s nightly television news also shook and removed security, with hostility to the media as a feature of the event’s speeches.

The rally was seen as an opportunity for Zemmour to regain his strength, as polls showed that he had tried to maintain the suspense of his intentions for the past month after showing a drop in his favor.

Zemmour, who has two convictions for hate speech, said there were 15,000 people at the rally, though organizers said about 12,000.

Polls suggest that Marine Le Pen, a veteran leader of the far-right National Rally party, would be a more competent president than Zemmour.

According to recent polls, if the election were to be held now, it would be removed in the first round, with Macron having a chance to win ahead of Le Pen, but analysts have warned that the outcome is highly questionable.

The rally crowd – of all ages, but far more men than women – responded enthusiastically to Zemmour’s rhetoric about immigration, race and Islam.

He promised that if elected, he would reduce immigration to almost zero, severely tighten the naturalization process, and expel asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants.

Zemmour reiterated the risk of the French being “replaced” by immigrants, echoing the so-called “great representation” theory known among white supremacists.

The French right-wing Republican Party elected Paris regional leader Valerie Pecresse on Saturday after a primary that spoke out on immigration and crime.

Massive police presence

Police were on alert in Zemmour last weekend for disrupting a trip to the southern port city of Marseille by extremist left-wing activists and anarchists, and the candidate ended up showing his middle finger to a woman protesting.

Police gathered outside the area and searched people’s bags on arrival.

In Paris, about 2,000 people marched to protest against a candidacy accused of being racist and divisive.

“It is important to show that we will not allow fascism to gain ground,” union spokesman Simon Duteil Solidaires told AFP.

In addition to the final missteps, including the middle finger event, Zemmour has seen several far-right characters from the far right, including his chief financial assistant.