Le Pen downplays split with Zemmour as she runs for French presidency

The leader of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen, has played down the risks of a break with influential right-wing commentator Eric Zemmour during his attempt to overthrow Emmanuel Macron in the presidential elections next April.

Zemmour is expected to announce his own offer to replace Macron in the coming weeks. Analysts predict such a move could take right-wing votes away from Le Pen, who lost to Macron in 2017.

However, during an interview with French TV channel TF1, Le Pen said she had no opponents among those who believed in France. “There is a big gap between those who believe in France and those who no longer believe in it,” she added.

“I think Eric Zemmour is one of those who believe in France. We have differences, but we win in unity and not in division. I will never treat him as an adversary. I think he should reserve his attacks on Emmanuel Macron. “

To throw
On Sunday in Fréjus, in the south of the country, Le Pen officially announced her second attempt to become the first woman president of France.

“There are battles we have no right to lose,” she told nearly 1,000 party supporters. “The 2022 presidential election is one of them, and because we don’t have the right to lose it, we’re going to win it.”

Le Pen, 52, left her post as RN president last week to focus on her campaign. Vice-President Jordan Bardella, who replaced her, was in the audience as she pledged to defend freedoms in France.

“I will give you a state that will cherish your freedoms,” she said.

Choice
“In 2022, this election will not only be a choice of society. It will be a choice of civilization, a choice of life and future for our children, a choice of security and power for our country, a choice of freedom and independence. “

Le Pen referred to the series of protests against mandatory vaccinations and health cards that must be presented before entering bars, restaurants and galleries.

“If Saturday after Saturday, thousands of people chant the word ‘freedom’, it is because there is an unease that must be heard,” she said.

During her speech, she also attacked the European Union and exposed its attitudes towards immigration and insecurity.

“We have to decide who comes home and under what conditions,” she said to applause.

“We are going to eradicate gangs and put French delinquents in jail, foreigners on the plane.”

Elsewhere, Sunday, Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, announced that she would run for president.

“Knowing the gravity of our time and to give hope to our lives, I decided to be a candidate for the French presidency,” said the 62-year-old woman, surrounded by supporters and her campaign team in the Norman city of Rouen.