Marion Maréchal, former French MP and niece of Marine Le Pen, is expected to join the presidential campaign of the conservative writer and pundit Eric Zemmour and appear at a rally this weekend in Toulon.
Marion Maréchal, who was formerly a member of the French parliament for the Front National (FN), now National Rally (RN), under her aunt Marine Le Pen, is expected to announce her formal support for Zemmour on Sunday, with the entourage of the rival populist confirming this week that she will be attending the rally.
Maréchal is said to have confirmed her appearance at the rally with Zemmour’s party Reconquest! last week and expected to give an interview to the conservative magazine Valeurs actuelles on her reasons for supporting Zemmour over her aunt Marine Le Pen, L’Obs reports.
The rally comes as Zemmour is behind Le Pen in some recent presidential polling. Some French media have suggested the rally could be a move to boost the pundit’s support among the base of Le Pen’s party.
A member of the entourage of Zemmour told the newspaper Les Echos that the rally may convince some members of the RN to join Zemmour’s cause along with some of the members of the centre-right Les Republicains (LR), who favour Maréchal.
The move could also be a sign of Maréchal re-entering politics. Zemmour has stated that he could appoint Maréchal as his Prime Minister if she joined his party and campaigned for him.
The move to join Zemmour would come after Maréchal stated in January that she would likely be voting for him in the presidential race rather than her aunt, but claimed that “supporting him is a real choice, a heavy decision.”
Maréchal would not be the only high-profile supporter of Le Pen to defect to Zemmour in recent weeks. Last month, Senator Stephane Ravier left the National Rally to join Reconquest! saying: “From now on I am giving my support to Eric Zemmour in this presidential campaign because I’m convinced that he is the real uniter.”
Nicolas Bay, a member of the European Parliament for the RN, was suspended last month by the party after being accused of leaking confidential and strategic information to the Zemmour campaign.
Bay denied the accusations, saying: “I don’t take part in any campaign committees, how would I have been able to transmit so-called ‘strategic information’?”
However, Bay later formally joined Reconquest!
“I have decided to fully engage with Eric Zemmour in the presidential campaign, because I believe deeply in his candidacy, his project and his strategy,” Bay said.
He now serves as a vice-president of the party.
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