On the occasion of the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Donald Trump, two French political figures were invited. A welcome spotlight for these elected officials in search of influence.
Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony will take place on January 20. Her big return to the White House is already generating a lot of ink after the disclosure of the guest list. Indeed, according to newspaper information Politico confirmed at Parisian and to BFMTVtwo French political figures were invited to the event.
An announcement which does not fail to spark debate, both on the meaning of this presence and on its possible political repercussions. And for good reason: it is despite his growing isolation from the French political sphere that the president of the Reconquête! Éric Zemmour was invited to the ceremony. He will be accompanied by his partner, Sarah Knafo, the only MEP from the far-right party.
Found alone after the secession of Marion Maréchal and the three other elected officials from the Zemmourist list, she tried to build a network within the European extreme right and the American conservative spheres. Last summer, the elected official even spent several weeks at the Claremont Institute, a think tank close to Donald Trump’s networks. Efforts paid off if we are to believe the symbolism of this invitation.
A victory for Reconquest!
The information was relayed and confirmed on January 8 on the official Reconquête X account. “It is the possibility of creating links with the person at the head of the leading world power, we are not going to deprive ourselves of it…” exclaimed a party executive, interviewed by Le Parisien. According to Politico, the invitation was sent to them in advance, on the day of the American billionaire’s victory in November.
Good news for the two elected officials who will join other representatives of the Western extreme right including Giorgia Meloni, Viktor Orbán and the ultra-liberal Argentine President Javier Milei. On the other hand, there is no problem for the president of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen, who is not currently among the people officially invited to the ceremony. No more than the French head of state.
Emmanuel Macron, who wanted to “cooperate” with “the choice that was made by the American people,” has already been sidelined in favor of Éric Zemmour. He has never hidden his differences of point of view with the far-right polemicist. In March 2022, then a candidate for re-election, he targeted the comments made by the essayist in his book, France has not said its last wordon his desire “to force people to give French first names”. “Our identity has never been built on shrinkage, nor [sur] first names, nor [sur] forms of tension” he declared without explicitly naming it.