Thousands of Reconquête supporters were heard chanting “Killer Macron” at a campaign rally over the weekend after presidential hopeful Éric Zemmour linked Macron’s pro-mass migration policies to two high-profile anti-Semitic murders and a jihadist attack—all of which took place in recent years amid the country’s rapidly deteriorating security situation.
The chants, which were heard against the backdrop of the eminently iconic Eiffel Tower on Sunday, came after the Reconquête leader blamed France’s dismal security situation—which in recent years has seen murders, rapes, and violence explode—on incumbent candidate President Macron’s careless migration policies, the Paris-based Le Point reports.
“Some are outraged about my firmness. What outrages me are not words and concepts, but the daily dramas that you all undergo,” Zemmour began. “What outrages me is that peace will never return to Evelyne Reybert, mother of Julien, who was massacred in Romans-sur-Isére (in April 2020 by a Sudanese asylum seeker, editor’s note). What makes me indignant is that we will never console the children of Sarah Halimi or Mireille Knoll. We will never do justice to all those whom the State has failed to protect.”
Zemmour—the former political journalist turned presidential hopeful—then fell silent as his remarks were greeted with ovations and cheers that quickly devolved into chants of “killer Macron.”
France’s political establishment wasted no time in condemning Zemmour, despite the fact that he claimed not to have heard the chants, condemned the words, and never used the expression himself.
Valérie Pécresse (LR), the center-right candidate who’s trailed Zemmour in the most opinion surveys throughout the campaign, took to social media, writing: “I will fight the outgoing president with all my strength but to let an opponent be called a murderer is dangerous for the republic. This is certainly not the right! This is not my France.”
She later added that the incident had “completely discredited” Zemmour as a possible president of France.
Christophe Castaner, who heads LREM MPs in the National Assembly, called Zemmour “irresponsible” for allowing the chants to take place, adding that the Reconquête leader had “demonstrated his presidential impediment this afternoon.”
President Macron, for his part, called Zemmour’s behavior “undignified” and said that he must have hearing problems.
The news comes after presidential hopeful Éric Zemmour last week vowed to establish a Ministry for Remigration that would facilitate and oversee the repatriation of “unwanted foreigners”—a proposal that multiple opinion polls have revealed the vast majority of French citizens support.
