Eric Zemmour accused of sexual assault
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After his brow-raising racist, sexist and intimidating statements, Eric Zemmour is now being charged with sexual abuse.
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French far-right presidential candidate Eric Zammour
Far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, who already has the reputation of being a jaw-dropping racist, faces allegations of rape and sexual abuse after several women came forward to testify that he had assaulted them.
In a video posted on a French website Tuesday, eight women claimed Zemmour used his position as a prominent journalist in France to make unwanted sexual advances toward them from 1999 to 2019.
Galle Lenfant, an Aix-en-Provence city councilor, and two other women said that Zemmour kissed them against their will.
Zemmour touched Aurore Van Opstal, a Belgian journalist, and an unidentified woman who appeared in the video with her face partially obscured on separate occasions.
The right-wing candidate also pushed another woman against a wall and said he wanted to have sex with her, according to another woman who spoke anonymously.
His spokesperson declined to comment. On his account, Zemmour denied any sexual misconduct in December, in response to previous French media reports that did not name his accusers.
"These women accuse me without providing any evidence," he said.
It is worth mentioning that Zemmour has a history of making sexist public remarks. In 2017, he compared women who participated in the #MeToo movement to those who assisted Nazis in tracking down Jews in France during the German occupation.
Zemmour's campaign, an anti-immigrant television pundit vying with far-right leader Marine Le Pen for a spot in the presidential runoff in April, was rocked by the accusations on Tuesday.
“Women have a form of intelligence different from that of men, I’m sorry to say. And the great geniuses are men,” Mr. Zemmour boldly stated during a 2011 TV interview.
According to polls, Zemmour and Le Pen each have around 15% of the vote going into the first round of the election, while President Emmanuel Macron has more than 25%.
