MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th March, 2022) Incumbent French President Emmanuel Macron and his campaign rivals had a rare moment of unity on Monday as they banded together to condemn far-right Eric Zemmour for allowing his fans to verbally abuse a sitting president.
About 100,000 people, according to Zemmour's own estimate, gathered in Paris on Sunday for a campaign rally just two weeks before the French go to the presidential polls. Videos showed the crowd chant "Killer Macron" as Zemmour accused the president of letting criminal immigrants into the country.
"There should be some benevolence. There are political leaders who are violent and abusive and that's not good," Macron, who was on campaign trail in the eastern town of Dijon, said.
Marine Le Pen, his main rival from the right-wing National Rally party, echoed Macron in a comment to BFMTV, saying the chant was "completely outrageous" and "a form of excess."
Valerie Pecresse, the center-right Republicans' candidate whom polls put in third place, condemned the mob's behavior as a threat to France.
"I've strongly opposed the outgoing president but letting an opponent be treated as a murderer is dangerous for the Republic," she said on social media.
Zemmour's team said he did not hear anything, earning scorn from Macron, who called the former political pundit "a hearing-impaired candidate." This brought him criticism from left-winger Jean-Luc Melenchon, who saw the remark as derisive toward people with this disability.
