France: Presidential Candidate Accused of Sexual Misconduct Endorsed by Le-Pen’s Controversial Niece

As France's presidential elections approach, scheduled for the 10th of April 2022, campaigns are heating up with leading politicians endorsing candidates and making controversial political statements.

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Less than a month left till France's presidential elections, with 12 candidates running their campaigns amid an extremely unusual political atmosphere in Europe, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaching its fourth week.

Éric Zemmour Faces 8 Accusations of Sexual Assault 

Amongst the most controversial candidates has been the far-right wing leader of the Reconquête! political party. Zemmour has been triggering controversies one after the other for his extreme views on immigration and religious minorities in France, namely the Muslim community.

Zemmour's prospects in the 2022 elections have also been questioned by commentators as he is one of few Jewish French politicians making it to the final rounds, while he faces backlash from within the Jewish community in France, where multiple religious leaders expressed their worries about Zemmour's "bigoted" rhetoric and consequently did not endorse him to lead the nation.

This week, eight French women have come forward and spoken up about being sexually assaulted by the presidential hopeful between 1999 and 2015, allegations his campaign continues to downplay.

Marine Le Pen's Niece, Marion Maréchal, Endorses Zemmour

In a surprising move, and despite her leading popularity amongst France's right-wing, Marine Le Pen has lost the support of her niece, the former member of the National Assembly who was supposed to endorse her outspoken aunt. 

Instead, the 32-year old politician has chosen to endorse the more controversial far-right-wing candidate, Éric Zemmour, appearing with him during an elections rally in the southern city of Toulon on the 6th of March 2022.

Marion Maréchal Stirs Controversy Over Refugees' Crisis

Marion Maréchal herself has not been away from controversies, as her latest statements amid the war in Ukraine and the refugee crisis that has followed ever since have reignited conversations over immigrants in Europe in general, and France in particular. 

Appearing on the Le Grand Jury TV Show airing on the RTL broadcaster in France, Marion Maréchal condemned what she described as the fact that "many of the Ukrainian refugees arriving at France" are "from Africa."

Marion Maréchal continued to say: "If some Ukrainians wish to come to France, they can, of course, do so, but we should be very careful [...] nearly a third of the so-called Ukrainian refugees who arrive in France are actually not Ukrainians, but Algerians or Moroccans." Saying they should not be welcome in France because they "  are not real war refugees ."

Marion Maréchal's statements echo a report published last week by the French Le Figaro, suggesting that 1 in 3 refugees arriving from Ukraine are not Ukrainians. And that 7.5% of them hail from Algeria, 3.5% Ivorians, 3.5% Moroccans, 2.5% Indians, 2.5% Kyrgyz, 2% Congolese, 1.5% Cameroonians, 1% Pakistanis, in addition to a number of other nationalities.

Maréchal's statements, however, fail to mention that the ongoing crisis in Ukraine has driven thousands of international students who study at Ukrainian universities out of the country, using the same routes used by Ukrainian refugees and that countries all around the world are still trying to manage the students' crisis and flying them home.