It was time for this to stop. At Reconquête (Eric Zemmour’s party), we had to grit our teeth to pose together, in the last family photo, this Wednesday evening in Nice. A final effort to display a facade of unity and close this European campaign which resembled a long way of the cross for Marion Maréchal, head of the list of the young far-right formation.
Illustration among others of the atmosphere which reigned internally during these few months, this response from a party executive questioned about the last television performance of his candidate: “I did not even have the strength to listen.” One party, two camps, and an uncertainty of reaching 5% of the votes on June 9, the minimum threshold for obtaining elected representatives in the European Parliament. Here, for now, is the assessment of the Reconquest campaign, which nevertheless staked its survival in this election. A few minutes before the start of the last meeting, some displayed the false modesty of a gazelle but already seemed to have mourned the candidate and made it known. “I can’t start dissecting a still living being,” smiles a Zemmourist in front of several journalists.
A conflict over attitude towards the RN
To say that everything started well would perhaps be an exaggeration. But with less than three days before the election, no one expected such a noxious atmosphere. Between those close to Eric Zemmour and Marion Maréchal, relations are almost broken. The campaign has been plagued by internal divisions for months. Campaign offices have stopped being held for several weeks. At issue: a strategic disagreement, firstly, on the attitude to adopt towards the National Rally and Jordan Bardella. Two lines: that of Marion Maréchal, who chose to spare her former party and make the right and the Republicans her main adversary; and that of those close to Eric Zemmour, convinced that the position defended during the presidential campaign (namely that of bashing Marine Le Pen and her party like a deaf man and repeating that the latter could not win) was the most effective electorally.
“It’s crazy, her entire political career is based on opposition to Le Pen’s line, she even left the party for that. She was more opposed to her aunt when she was in the FN than with us,” s strangles a Zemmourist executive. In the home stretch, more than the upcoming score, what concerns the members of Reconquest is to distance themselves from a possible defeat. “At the start, we said to ourselves that Marion’s added value was the trust placed in her by RN voters and that she would expand our base by 7%, but the opposite happened: it did not appeal to the frontist electorate, and it scared away our electorate,” one of them pretends to deplore.
The electoral battle becomes a battle of narrative. “Marion Maréchal’s popularity with Marine Le Pen’s electorate is 76%, that of Eric Zemmour is 50%,” retorts a puppeteer. Furthermore, there is an error of analysis when we say that we share of 7%, in reality we start from 3.5% of the legislative elections, Marion has therefore managed to maintain itself despite the push of the RN.” Two strategies, two speeches. Including on stage, in Nice, where Eric Zemmour attacks Jordan Bardella head-on when Marion Maréchal doesn’t even mention it. Result: cacophonous and disorderly communication which does not seem to bother the candidates.
“He wanted to be in the middle and ended up nowhere”
The weight of rumors also weighs on the internal campaign. That, persistent, of a return to the fold of Marion Maréchal, suspected, despite several public denials, of wanting to leave Reconquête for the RN. Questioned by Eric Zemmour on this subject, the head of the list denied it outright, but justified his reluctance to attack his former party by his belonging to the “Le Pen clan”. In Reconquest, one anecdotal disagreement drives out the other on a daily basis. One morning the management of the press accused of amateurism by the Zemmourists, one afternoon the hunt for offs in the press, considered childish by the Marionists, the following day the place to be given to Eric Zemmour in the campaign in relation to Marion Marshal.
The succession of picrocholine conflicts even manages to annoy certain executives. “There is no real point of contention, these are small working difficulties between people who are a bit in competition…”, assures MEP Nicolas Bay, visibly tired of having to comment. Others chose to move away a little. Contrary to his usual, Guillaume Peltier, number 2 on the list, has been very discreet in recent weeks, unwilling to choose a side. But those who are absent are always wrong and its apparent neutrality does not exempt it from some internal mortar fire. “His problem is that he wanted to be in the middle and ended up nowhere.” The ears of the former number 2 of the Republicans must have been ringing since Saint-Malo, where he had taken refuge for a meeting far from the tumult of Nice. Especially since everyone agrees: they agree on the substance. Namely: the defense of a civilizational vision of Europe, the same detestation of Islam, the warning against the “great replacement” (the racist and conspiracy theory popularized by Renaud Camus), the need to fight against “LGBT propaganda”.
“If Marion Maréchal makes less than 5%, will she make her mea culpa?”
Yet throughout the campaign, this ideological consensus was erased behind human quarrels. There are still a few days left, but some seem to have already skipped the vote, and the hypothesis of defeat is on everyone’s minds. On the Zemmourist side, we sharpen our knives while dreaming of the moment of assessment. “If Marion Maréchal gets less than 5%, the question is will she make her mea culpa?, pretends to question a manager. What is certain is that we will convene a campaign office. Finally , it will rather be custody.” “Obviously we don’t have the same concerns a few hours before the end of the campaign,” replies Philippe Vardon, Marion Maréchal’s campaign director.
Some still try to make themselves heard: they are all in the same boat. “If we do not make 5%, it will be difficult for Marion, but it will not be easier for the others contrary to the illusion they have,” warns a candidate, who predicts a dark future for the formation of extreme right if it does not obtain any elected representative in Brussels. “We had everything to succeed,” an executive pretends to deplore. “And Marion locked herself away in a solitary campaign.” “We have a few hours left to campaign, and we are going to spend them with the French, not the journalists,” retort the candidate’s teams. Rest assured, the ordeal is almost over. It was even shortened: Marion Maréchal, who was supposed to stroll through a market with Eric Zemmour this Friday, preferred to cancel at the last minute. Only three days left before the election, and everyone will be free, depending on the results, to summon the press or to congratulate themselves. Only problem: if elected to the European Parliament, we will still have to live together.
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