«… Who steals, rapes, plunders, tortures and kills»

Journalist and author Éric Zemmour (63) announced on 30 November last year that he would challenge Emmanuel Macron in this year’s presidential election in France. Few French people think he will be president, but most opinion polls suggest he will run in the second round.

In September, Zemmour published a 350-page political diary pamphlet based on people he has met from 2006 until today. La France n’a pas dit son dernier mot («France has not said its last word»), published by his own publisher, has been on the bestseller lists in the country since. The reason is probably that the book is easy to read and personal – he writes rhetorically well, but the content is reprehensible.

«Pas un jour sans …» (Not a day without…) Zemmour repeats page up and page down, filling in things he dislikes in France. «Not a day goes by without» the publication of doctorates based on gender theory; that Walt Disney dabbles with French classics; that immigrants talk about how good polygamy is; that environmental activists criticize a number of French traditions – such as eating foie gras – for lack of sustainability. «Not a day goes by without» that lesbian cohabitation is celebrated or that municipal support is given to build a new mosque. «Not a day goes by without» someone being attacked on the metro or young French girls being raped. Zemmour’s conclusion after several «not a day without» statements is that France is about to be taken over by Muslims and feminists. And he spares no expense in his descriptions of reality: «Rennes and Nantes, where the socialist mayors have invited multitudes of migrants to settle, are characterized by beheadings, thefts and rapes.» Or this one: «No village in France is any longer spared from gangs from Chechnya, Kosovo, or Africa, who steal, rape, loot, torture and kill.» No, Zemmour doesn’t think things look good in today’s France.

Nine teachings – indoctrinated?

He lists nine teachings Frenchmen today have been indoctrinated to believe in, but he himself believes to be completely insane.

1) Race does not exist, but racists do.

2) Only whites are racist.

3) Gender identity and ethnic identity are fluid.

4) The school’s main task is to combat inequality.

5) Virility is harmful.

6) Islam is the religion of love.

7) Capitalism and patriarchy tyrannize women.

8) There is no French culture, only cultures in France.

9) France cannot do without Europe.

All of this he believes to be wrong, and he uses the rest of the book to convince the reader that he, Zemmour, is correct.

Zemmour writes simply and populistically. But like a true French intellectual, he sprinkles himself with quotes and statements from famous countrymen, from de Montaigne, Balzac and Tocqueville via Napoleon to Camus, Sartre and – not unexpectedly – Houellebecq. The latter is politically close to Zemmour without challenging him, so he receives friendly terms in a separate chapter. Marine Le Pen, the leader of the right-wing populist party Rassemblement national (National Gathering), on the other hand, does not have much to spare. «She has become too soft-hearted», he writes, referring to the immigration debate. And he refers to a lunch they had together at a chic restaurant near the Arc de Triomphe just before Christmas in 2018. After exchanging pleasantries and talking a little about her father’s illness (Jean-Marine Le Pen, the founder of the Front National party, the forerunner of Rassemblement National), Zemmour has nothing more to talk to her about. «I don’t share her passion for cats and plants.»

«For a long time I thought Macron was a less vulgar version of Sarkozy…»

Macron

Zemmour is not only raving about Marine Le Pen, his main opponent on the far right. He also ridicules the government’s spokesperson in 2019 and 2020, Sibeth Ndiaye, calling her «Si bête» (So stupid). «Immigrants who have obtained French citizenship should call their children Cathrine, François or Paul, not Youmali, Ingissolyn and Djamane, as Sibeth’s children are called,” he writes. And mean it! A new opinion poll shows that almost a third of French people agree with him.

Several presidents also have their passports signed. «For a long time, I thought Macron was a less vulgar version of Sarkozy, but now I have understood that he is nothing more than a better-dressed Holland», writes Zemmour, adding that Macron is still more grotesque than Holland. At the same time, he says, clearly, proudly, that Macron called him privately on 1 May last year; they talked politics for 45 minutes, and Macron wanted more details about Zemmour’s ideas on how to stop all immigration to France.

Éric Zemmour’s parents came to France from Algeria nine years before he was born. As the son of Jewish Berbers from Algeria, it is almost strange that he is so staunch against immigration, has so much against foreigners and constantly accuses foreigners of committing robbery, violence and rape. Considering his mother and grandmother raised him since his father was rarely home, it’s almost strange that he’s so misogynistic and sexist. But the whole Zemmour figure is incomprehensible: He harasses the political elite, while at the same time, with an annual salary of well over two million kroner and a master’s degree from Science Po Paris, he is certainly part of the elite himself. He says he speaks for most people but frequently refers to Balzac and de Montagne.

Zemmour’s autobiographical political diary provides an excellent first-hand insight into the neoconservative far right in France. It’s not particularly cheerful reading…