Eric Zemmour, the anti-immigrant radical who could supplant Marine Le Pen

“THE FRENCHTV Trump, it’s you!” a Parisian ally of the former American president once told Eric Zemmour. Or so the outspoken anti-immigrant polemicist claims in his latest bestselling book. A few weeks ago, such an assertion appeared self-serving and fanciful. But a recent poll surge by this Vichy apologist and television personality has taken established French political parties by surprise. Mr Zemmour is seeking nothing less than to turn nationalist party politics upside down and , by making the hard-right leader look too soft.Ahead of next April’s two-round presidential election, two recent first-round polls have put Mr Zemmour in second place, ahead of Ms Le Pen and behind . This has transformed him from a commentator on frenzied talk shows into the subject of them. Which is exactly where the radical nationalist, who has been convicted of inciting racial hatred, wants to be. Polls still suggest Mr Macron will lead in the first round and win in the second. But they also suggest that Mr Zemmour, who has yet to confirm he is running, could upset presidential ambitions on the left and the right.