Journalist Vincent Bresson immersed himself for nearly four months in Éric Zemmour’s campaign, taking part in Generation Z, the group of young supporters of the polemicist.
“A deep dive into the Zemmourian propaganda reactor.” It is with these few words that the publishers of La Goutte d’Or present their new book-investigation, At the heart of the Z- that BFMTV.com was able to read -, during which the independent journalist Vincent Bresson infiltrates the campaign of Éric Zemmour.
Last September, the 27-year-old young man, white, qualified, baptized and brought up in Catholic values, decided to put what he describes as assets in the eyes of the polemicist to immerse himself with the youth who gravitate around him. Calling itself Generation Z, GenZ or GZ, it first launched into the shadows, in order to support the media presence of the sixty-year-old, even before the formalization of his candidacy.
He keeps his first name – to be sure to react when called -, but swaps his surname for that of a childhood friend: Carayon. He has no papers justifying his new identity but no proof will ever be asked of him. Neither when he sticks posters with Generation Z, nor when he joins the candidate’s digital cell, nor when he is entrusted with the keys to the campaign HQ.
“Niggers” and “Great Replacement”
Vincent Bresson spends four months with the supporters of the former political journalist. His first contact with them came on the evening of October 13, during a collage session in the Gobelins district of Paris (13th arrondissement). With him three boys, three students. And from this first trip with young Zemmourians, the theses of their leader and racist remarks quickly appear.
Cédric* lives in the Gare du Nord district, and, according to him there: “When you’re white, you’re a bit alone. We’ve been replaced! Leftists don’t want to see reality.” Before adding: “Since the leftists love them so much, the immigrants, I would send them to these countries. You know, there were Negroes who traded, before, in Africa. I want us to do the same and sell the gauchos to the highest bidder!”
“Great replacement”, “civil war”… The theories popularized by the far-right candidate have already permeated most of the activists that the undercover journalist meets.
Persistent denigrating terms and stereotypes
The use of denigrating terms concerns racialized people as much as women and LGBT people. Stereotypes are tenacious. As when Dimitri *, responsible for ensuring the security of the campaign HQ, swings at an Arab activist who asks him if he can buy his apartment: “You, already, with your head, we won’t sell it to you.” This concerns young anonymous activists as well as its most experienced supporters. Like when the former prefect Gilbert Payet, technical and legal adviser to Éric Zemmour, and Sophie Clavel, the candidate’s personal secretary, call a black man “Mamadou”.
“If, publicly, the Z constantly rejects the term racist, I observe that many of its supporters clearly judge a part of the population according to its skin color. (…) From grassroots activists to two high executives of Éric Zemmour’s clan, I have the feeling since the beginning of my immersion that people whose skin is not white are often judged with contempt, even belittlement, in any case, differently. (…) In my eyes, this reflects a duplicity: the equality promised by the concept of ‘assimilation’, advocated by the Z, is not there”, analyzes Vincent Bresson.
The journalist also reports this somewhat unreal moment, at New Year’s, when Valentin*, complaining about the “queer music” that is playing, decides to put on a song from the Wehrmacht, the army of the Third Reich. The latter will sing it, with another activist, hand on heart.
“Saturate social networks”
Vincent Bresson’s investigation allows us to experience the start of Éric Zemmour’s campaign as closely as possible, in its most daily moments, from towing sessions to discussions at his campaign headquarters, from which he very easily obtains the keys. The candidate’s office remains open there very often, the journalist saying he is flabbergasted by “the lack of protection that surrounds this campaign”.
The book makes it possible to better understand the profile of young, even very young, activists, mostly boys still students, whose role is to “saturate social networks and sometimes even the media space”, summarizes the author. In particular, he brings to light the “WikiZédia” project, consisting of using the online encyclopedia Wikipedia to promote the polemicist. A dozen of its activists are thus active in modifying various pages devoted to Éric Zemmour, his supporters or the ideas he conveys.
“If we are good, what we do today will be in the history books of our grandchildren”, promises Samuel Lafont, head of digital strategy. Vincent Bresson ended his infiltration during the month of January, shortly before the publication of his book, while the members of the digital cell were still very active.
*Name has been changed