Now the traditional right is looking for ways to distance itself from the TV star without alienating its supporters.
Patrick Stefanini, a Republican who ran President Jacques Chirac’s successful 1995 campaign, said Mr. Zemor was benefiting from divisions within the traditional right on issues such as immigration.
“Mr. Jemour has turned immigration into the single key to understanding the difficulties facing French society,” said Mr. Stefanini, who is now leading the presidential bid of Valerie Pécrés, head of the Paris region. “Republicans are having a little trouble establishing themselves because the trends within Republicans are not the same.”
Mr Stefanini blamed Mr Gemore’s rise to a failure of traditional power and said he believed the TV star’s ratings would drop.
But for now, many voters appear to be taking a look at Mr Zamor, who is drawing huge crowds for campaign-like events across France while promoting his latest book, “France Has Not Said Its Last Word Still” . Huh.
Last week, three residents of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a wealthy suburb of Paris, came together to attend an event with Mr. Gemor in the capital.
François Tornberg, who said she was in her 70s, said she liked Mr. Zemor because “he gives a kick in the anthill,” she said.