Emmanuel Macron’s new challenger from the centre-right must resist the ‘Zemmourisation’ of her party
Last week, Emmanuel Macron became the first French president for more than 40 years to make an official visit to the town of Vichy in order to speak about its history. His purpose was to counter an insidious historical revisionism which is casting a shadow over France’s presidential election campaign. The far-right television pundit Éric Zemmour, who announced his candidacy a fortnight ago, has claimed that the Vichy regime gave protection to French Jews during the second world war, a falsehood that has been denounced and debunked by historians. The bleak truth of the round-ups and persecution that took place, said Mr Macron, must not be “manipulated” or “revised” for political motives.
That this trip was felt to be necessary gives an indication of the disturbing extent to which extreme views are becoming normalised in French politics, where the centre of gravity has lurched to the right. Around 30% of French voters plan to cast their ballot next spring either for Mr Zemmour’s reactionary agenda or for Marine Le Pen. Denying Vichy’s crimes is part of a toxic nationalism which seeks to “save” French civilisation from the effects of immigration, and draws on white supremacist “replacement” theory to suggest that traditional French culture is under threat. To an alarming degree, this agenda has succeeded in setting the tone in the presidential race so far.
