After weeks of campaigning with a second-round goal, Eric Zemmour (Payback!) won with just 7% of the vote. At the Mutualité de Paris, his supporters did not hide their disappointment.
Seven percent. This is the percentage of voters who chose Eric Zemmour, in fourth but far from the top three, Emmanuel Macron (27.6%), Marine Le Pen (23.4%) and Jean-Luc Mélenchon (22%). At the Maison de la Mutualité in Paris on Sunday evening, before the first estimates, supporters of the candidate had little hope. It has to be said that Eric Zemmour has been in a free fall in the polls for several weeks. The far-right’s beneficial vote finally went to Marine Le Pen. The candidate experienced an opposite dynamic to the previous debate.
In a very calm atmosphere the guests of the Reconquest party waited for 8 pm. Eric Zemmour arrived at the building late, speaking after all the candidates except Emmanuel Macron. When the results were announced at 8 p.m., the scores for Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen displayed on the screen elicited shouts of astonishment, then boos. This was followed by some timid applause when the result of their candidate, who could still be reimbursed for his campaign expenses, was announced.
Clear voting instructions for the second round
But after the disappointment, activists quickly talked about the immediate future and a second round that comes two weeks later. “They stock the champagne bottles, you never know until it’s over the campaign cap,” prefers a young activist from Eric Zemmour. The older one was more pragmatic. “We should definitely vote for Marine Le Pen, she is much closer to us. A supporter of Emmanuel Macron admitted, that’s enough. Views reinforced by Marion Marechal’s speech. During her time on the TF1 set, Zemmour activists listened to her religiously. Even Marine Le Pen’s niece allowed Even before Eric Zemmour took the floor to give possible voting instructions, she announced that he would “call for a vote for Marine Le Pen.” A detail that activists did not notice, Marion Marechal received a standing ovation in the room. Even a man shouted “relief” during the applause. Upon Listening to Valerie Pecres’ speech, many activists laughed when she referred to Marine Le Pen’s “danger.” When she announced that she would vote for Emmanuel Macron, the audience laughed in yellow chanting “Okay, let’s see! OK then ! “.
The former arguer promised he wouldn’t give up
Eric Zemmour will have finally done what Valerie Pecresse berated him. While candidate LR announced that she would vote for the outgoing president in the second round, she invited him to vote for Marine Le Pen. Along with voting instructions, Eric Zemmour promised to “keep the fight” because they would win “soon.” “Your voices are the cry of a people who do not want to die,” he declared. He was glad to have put at the center of the issues of debate so far so little discussion according to him. Several times, the former polemicist promised that he would not give up and might even put a definitive end to his career as a journalist or speaker on television sets. Finally, Eric Zemmour ruled that he was at the head of the largest party in France.
Read also: Portfolio voting and useful voting.. Lessons from the first round
See also: Macron in the lead, Le Pen qualified, official results map
Following the speech, the candidate’s relatives met the crowd at the buffet. Activists were able to get close to the candidate and his supporters such as Senator Stephen Raver or Representative Gilbert Collard. Activists sometimes shed tears that did not escape the veteran eye of Eric Zemmour’s companion Sarah Knavu. Her companion, who had a stroke in her arm, showed a crying person to take her in his arms in front of the cameras.