Zemmour as a candidate: good news for everyone5 reading minutes

Unpublished article - Jonas Follonier

Essayist Eric Zemmour is officially a candidate for the presidency of the French Republic. He has chosen the form of a home video posted on social networks this Tuesday, November 30 at 12:00 to officially announce it, before responding to the few questions from Gilles Bouleau at 20 hours of TF1. While the transformation of the editorialist and writer into a politician is rather worrying news, whatever our position on his analyses, it also has some very positive aspects. And that goes for everyone, too.

Whether you're fiercely anti-Zemmourian or a staunch defender of the most daring theses of the author of French suicide, Eric Zemmour's definitive decision to run for president in 2022 is a reasonably cautious one. If we put ourselves in the shoes of his admirers, the prospect of discrediting himself in the event of defeat - and thus risking never again being the brilliant editorialist of yesteryear - is terrible. And if you're an opponent of Eric Zemmour, or at least of his ideas, it's the possibility of his victory that's shocking, as is the likelihood of a «Zemmourization» of programs. With Zemmour in power, we can legitimately fear that France will be plunged into an illiberal political and legal regime, with the wrong solutions to real problems (notably immigration), a purely protectionist economic and foreign policy, and so on and so forth.

A clever blend of repartee, erudition and coherence for all

And yet... who can say they didn't thrill to the art of the polemicist during his homeric TV appearances when he was still working for Ruquier? Even those who - daring hypothesis obliged - were never moved by his talent as a debater-punchliner are obliged to acknowledge his talent, even if they would never tell you so. Would we go so far as to say he's a good speaker? No. In the Zemmour-Mélenchon debate broadcast a few weeks ago on BFM TV, everyone could see that the latter remains the best of the last rhetoricians, and that Zemmour isn't really one. His «euh »s are numerous, his pronunciation not always glorious («la Fronthis conquestonte»), his grammar a little random. But then again, it's not about giving a lecture at the Collège de France, it's about being effective on TV. And he is. It's sure to make the next few months rock ’n roll.

Next, let's mention an important point that has hardly been mentioned in the hundreds of articles devoted to the «Zemmour phenomenon» in recent months: his erudition. Admittedly, Zemmour chooses the authors who suit him - but let's be honest, who doesn't? Admittedly, Zemmour doesn't have the number of readings or the rigorous method of an academic - but which candidate can boast of having them? And above all, why should an Elysée candidate have an academic profile? Let's get straight to the point: Eric Zemmour reads, when few people in society, including the political elite, do. Eric Zemmour is historically literate. Eric Zemmour has a literary, cultural and philosophical sensibility. Eric Zemmour has references (some of which are, of course, more than questionable), a relief, an ideology. Let others learn from him. If only to let us know who they are.

Read also | Has Eric Zemmour crossed the red line?

To top it all off, Zemmour is generally coherent. A rare commodity. There are, of course, a few contradictions, and why not between his words and his private life, but very rarely on the austere level of his reflections. Eric Zemmour - and this is his strength and his danger - has built up a system over many years, many decades. That's why he's so at ease answering anyone on any subject. And he always brings the subject back to his cherished themes and his famous analytical grid. Now it's a question of opposing him with others, or another one to start with! To enrich Zemmour's vision, inflect it or destroy it. Whatever.

The important thing is not to leave him alone on this essential terrain, namely the intellectual terrain that speaks to people. The opportunity is too good. Candidate Eric Zemmour could have the great beneficial effect of forcing his opponents to become better debaters, better thinkers and better popularizers. And, in the process, bring out new talents, new ideas, new discussions, digging up abscesses and unearthing unspoken truths. In France as elsewhere.

Write to the author: jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com

Header image: Eric Zemmour in October 2021 © Wikimeda CC 4.0