Since French politics resumed after the summer break, far-right polemicist Éric Zemmour has electrified the country’s presidential campaign. Waging fratricidal warfare with Marine Le Pen, he has managed to thrust his racist ideas into the public debate.

Now, after months of purported suspense, Zemmour has officially confirmed his candidacy for the 2022 presidential election. In a ten-minute clip livestreamed on social media on November 30, the former columnist for the right-wing daily Le Figaro and pundit for the Fox-like CNEWS said he felt compelled to do so given the tragic situation facing the country. “It’s no longer about reforming France but saving it. That’s why I’ve decided to stand in the presidential election.”

In a grotesque imitation of General Charles de Gaulle in London during World War II, the far-right candidate portrayed himself as a bulwark against a tidal wave of immigration threatening to destroy the foundations of the country. “We won’t let ourselves be dominated, subjugated, conquered, colonized. . . .  We won’t let ourselves be replaced,” he proclaims against a backdrop of footage of urban violence from the rolling news channels that makes France look like a hotbed of looting and bloodshed.