Read more about French firebrand Zemmour announces he’s running for president on Business Standard. Zemmour made the announcement in a YouTube video set to classical music on Tuesday<\/b>
\nEric Zemmour, the French TV pundit who\u2019s been sanctioned for inciting racial hatred and partly styles himself on anti-establishment figures like Donald Trump, finally announced what many people long suspected: He will fight President Emmanuel Macron for his job in April\u2019s election. Zemmour made the announcement in a YouTube video set to classical music on Tuesday. Seated at a desk in front of an old-style microphone, a set up that sought to echo General Charles de Gaulle\u2019s June 18, 1940 call for a rebellion against German occupation, Zemmour said he wanted to avoid \u201cthe disappearance of our civilization.\u201d At first glance, the 63-year-old stands no chance of winning a presidential contest in a country where rivals have long banded together to prevent a far-right candidate from clinching the highest office. He\u2019s also been losing steam in some polls amid a series of mishaps that include a trip to London that didn\u2019t go entirely to plan and the publication of a decidedly unpresidential photo in which he gives a woman the middle finger. Yet French elections are notoriously full of surprises. He could regain momentum, meaning it would no longer be a given that Macron will face off with nationalist leader Marine Le Pen and almost certainly win comfortably, just like in 2017. Zemmour could end up in the second round instead of her. Or, he could split the far-right vote enough to allow a center-right contender to qualify for the run-off, upsetting Macron\u2019s chances of returning to the Elysee. Either way, Zemmour\u2019s rise has revealed a society deeply divided between \u201cthose who care about delinquency, immigration and defending laicite (France\u2019s unique brand of secularism) and those who care about fighting discrimination, climate change or purchasing power,\u201d says Victoria Geraut, a Sciences Po researcher who works for the Jean Jaures foundation, a think tank. The rift won\u2019t close any time soon even if his candidacy flounders, according to Geraut. \u201cThe groups that back him and who are spreading his ideas will continue to exist, and spread their ideas on immigration or terrorism.\u201d Zemmour was brought up in a Jewish household in the cities of Montreuil, Paris and also nearby Drancy. At the time, the latter was home to citizens who came to from Algeria during the war, like his parents, as well as Spanish and Italian migrants. His father was a pharmacist by training, his mother a housewife. Despite his background, he often makes comments many regard as anti-Semitic, questioning for example some basic facts of the Holocaust in He criticizes feminism, lauds virility, and has been accused of sexual harassment, a charge he denies. Last week, a French magazine claimed he had gotten his 28-year-old de facto campaign manager, Sarah Knafo, pregnant. His lawyer, Olivier Pardo, lashed out on Twitter saying the article was contrary to journalism ethics and an invasion of Zemmour\u2019s private life. On a recent visit to Drancy, Zemmour said his former neighborhood had been tainted by the arrival of Muslim migrants, whose children he has described as murderers, rapists and thieves pushing toward civil war. He has argued that Islam isn\u2019t compatible with the Republic and that immigrants must embrace local customs, even if it means rejecting their own. He says he\u2019s proof the country\u2019s system of assimilation works. In Tuesday\u2019s video, Zemmour exalted a mostly fantasized version of what he called the France of people like Jeanne d’Arc, Louis the XIV and Victor Hugo, a France \u201cwith churches in its villages.\u201d Visibly seeking to stoke fears about immigration and gender equality, he called on people \u201cwho don’t feel like they are at home anymore\u201d to vote for him, saying it would help them \u201cmake ends meet.\u201d He also bashed the elite \u2014 from academics to journalists and union leaders\u2014 of which he is part and called for \u201ctaking the power away from the hands of minorities that have terrorized the majority\u201d and accelerated the country\u2019s decline. Zemmour started out as a journalist for Quotidien de Paris newspaper, before joining the conservative Le Figaro. He became a best-selling author and star of the Fox-style CNews. The network\u2019s owner, French billionaire Vincent Bollore, kept him on air for years despite his inflammatory comments. Read More: Billionaire Behind \u2018French Fox News\u2019 Could Torment Macron Citing Trump and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson as examples, Zemmour says he aims to unite the bourgeoisie with the working class. He also borrows from Macron\u2019s playbook. Like the president, Zemmour doesn\u2019t have the support of an established political party and casts himself as an outsider, although both are part of the elite. They are each backed by a diverse electorate, and both put young people at the center of their campaigns. Just as Macron united centrists in 2017, Zemmour may succeed in bringing the traditional right and the far-right together, according to a paper by the Jean Jaures Foundation. Their ideas radically diverge when it comes to and the future of France. Zemmour is a pessimist who calls for a return to an idealized glorious past. The president portrays a bright future in embracing globalization with a pinch of protectionism. In an interview in London, Zemmour said his supporters care more about immigration and the future of France than the economy, which is Macron\u2019s favorite topic as former banker and economy minister. Zemmour\u2019s strength lies in an ability to engage with those who don\u2019t usually vote. Some supporters say he\u2019s an intellectual who makes them feel like they\u2019re being lifted upwards, unlike Macron who makes them feel looked down upon. If Zemmour manages to derail a duel between the president and Le Pen, he could make both look like has-beens. Contrary to Macron, Zemmour has a fresh slate. Contrary to Le Pen, he didn\u2019t fail twice at being elected president. Still, challenges abound. The polemicist raised eyebrows across the political spectrum when he accused former President Francois Hollande of failing to protect the French on the anniversary of the deadly terrorist attack at the Bataclan concert hall in 2015. Victims accused him of unfairly weaponizing the tragedy. Meanwhile, heavyweight backers, such as financier Charles Gaves, who intended to loan him 300,000 euros for the campaign, are now reconsidering their support. Zemmour will also have to prove he has the backing of 500 elected officials by February, a legal requirement to run for president in France. Many traditional right-wing mayors, lawmakers, Senators and regional councilors say they are tempted to vouch for him. His team says they already have 200 signatures, which is impossible to verify at this point.<\/p>\n