Show notes
PARIS — The proposal of far-right nuptials came unprompted, as Marine Le Pen was touring a fair in the town of Vesoul, near National Rally heartlands in eastern France.
“If you could marry Eric …” a supporter cheekily suggested.
Le Pen laughed, then grimaced at the idea of tying the knot with far-right TV pundit-turned-candidate Eric Zemmour.
The National Rally leader has little immediate appetite for such an arranged marriage, but it’s a political match that would trigger alarm among the other runners in April’s presidential election. Together, she and Zemmour would win a third of the electorate, according to POLITICO’s poll of polls.
If they don’t join forces, they could scupper each other’s hopes. In the French political system, the two candidates with the most votes in the first round of voting face off in a run-off. Both Zemmour and Le Pen run the risk of splitting the far-right vote and canceling each other out.
That risk has only grown with a head of steam building behind a freshly nominated candidate on the center-right. Recent polls show Valérie Pécresse from the conservative Les Républicains party is in the ascendant.
Indeed, a leading pollster on Tuesday suggested that Pécresse was well poised to leapfrog the dueling pair on the far-right. According to a poll by Elabe for L’Express and BFMTV, Pécresse had 20 percent support, closing in fast on President Emmanuel Macron’s 23 percent. Le Pen and Zemmour garnered 15 and 14 percent respectively.
This new poll means that the fast-rising Pécresse now sits between Le Pen and Zemmour in POLITICO’s poll of polls.
Fears of such a scenario had led some members of the Le Pen and Zemmour campaign teams to speculate about a possible alliance, or at least acknowledge the risks associated with both of them going it alone.
“It’s very possible that the rivalry between Marine Le Pen and Zemmour will become a killing game,” said a National Rally heavyweight, “and that both will be eliminated.”
Far-right ‘union’
A Le Pen-Zemmour ticket at this point seems like a very long shot, not least because the far right duo appear to hate each other.
But politically, an alliance would make sense. The National Rally boasts a very strong following among the working classes, who feel short-changed by globalization. Zemmour attracts wealthy voters who want to defend the nation state and family values against immigration.
As recently as 2018, Le Pen and Zemmour were discussing a political alliance ahead of the European elections with Le Pen offering him a spot on a National Rally list. At the time, the talks failed.
The possibility of a joint ticket was the elephant in the room during a recent visit by Zemmour to the coastal city of Marseille, shortly before the anti-immigration hardliner announced his candidacy.
In Marseille, Zemmour walked beside National Rally senator Stéphane Ravier, who openly discussed the need to build “a broad union” behind Le Pen for the second round — assuming she gets there.
Asked whether he would support Le Pen in such a scenario, Zemmour said during the visit that he would not “fall into line behind anybody” but conceded that a “big union was needed to beat Macron.”
According to a Zemmour ally and friend, a deal could be reached between the two rounds of the election.
“Neither will collapse before the elections, so until then they’re stuck in the trenches facing each other,” he said. But “neither can win without the other.”
At each other’s throat
The first obstacle to presenting a joint ticket for the far right is the candidates themselves. Not a day goes by without Zemmour attacking Le Pen, and vice versa.
She was “lamentable” he recently told the British daily The Telegraph and “humiliated us all.” Voting Le Pen this time, he says, is “voting for...
“If you could marry Eric …” a supporter cheekily suggested.
Le Pen laughed, then grimaced at the idea of tying the knot with far-right TV pundit-turned-candidate Eric Zemmour.
The National Rally leader has little immediate appetite for such an arranged marriage, but it’s a political match that would trigger alarm among the other runners in April’s presidential election. Together, she and Zemmour would win a third of the electorate, according to POLITICO’s poll of polls.
If they don’t join forces, they could scupper each other’s hopes. In the French political system, the two candidates with the most votes in the first round of voting face off in a run-off. Both Zemmour and Le Pen run the risk of splitting the far-right vote and canceling each other out.
That risk has only grown with a head of steam building behind a freshly nominated candidate on the center-right. Recent polls show Valérie Pécresse from the conservative Les Républicains party is in the ascendant.
Indeed, a leading pollster on Tuesday suggested that Pécresse was well poised to leapfrog the dueling pair on the far-right. According to a poll by Elabe for L’Express and BFMTV, Pécresse had 20 percent support, closing in fast on President Emmanuel Macron’s 23 percent. Le Pen and Zemmour garnered 15 and 14 percent respectively.
This new poll means that the fast-rising Pécresse now sits between Le Pen and Zemmour in POLITICO’s poll of polls.
Fears of such a scenario had led some members of the Le Pen and Zemmour campaign teams to speculate about a possible alliance, or at least acknowledge the risks associated with both of them going it alone.
“It’s very possible that the rivalry between Marine Le Pen and Zemmour will become a killing game,” said a National Rally heavyweight, “and that both will be eliminated.”
Far-right ‘union’
A Le Pen-Zemmour ticket at this point seems like a very long shot, not least because the far right duo appear to hate each other.
But politically, an alliance would make sense. The National Rally boasts a very strong following among the working classes, who feel short-changed by globalization. Zemmour attracts wealthy voters who want to defend the nation state and family values against immigration.
As recently as 2018, Le Pen and Zemmour were discussing a political alliance ahead of the European elections with Le Pen offering him a spot on a National Rally list. At the time, the talks failed.
The possibility of a joint ticket was the elephant in the room during a recent visit by Zemmour to the coastal city of Marseille, shortly before the anti-immigration hardliner announced his candidacy.
In Marseille, Zemmour walked beside National Rally senator Stéphane Ravier, who openly discussed the need to build “a broad union” behind Le Pen for the second round — assuming she gets there.
Asked whether he would support Le Pen in such a scenario, Zemmour said during the visit that he would not “fall into line behind anybody” but conceded that a “big union was needed to beat Macron.”
According to a Zemmour ally and friend, a deal could be reached between the two rounds of the election.
“Neither will collapse before the elections, so until then they’re stuck in the trenches facing each other,” he said. But “neither can win without the other.”
At each other’s throat
The first obstacle to presenting a joint ticket for the far right is the candidates themselves. Not a day goes by without Zemmour attacking Le Pen, and vice versa.
She was “lamentable” he recently told the British daily The Telegraph and “humiliated us all.” Voting Le Pen this time, he says, is “voting for...