An unlabeled mayor of Gironde assumes his sponsorship of Eric Zemmour

“I decided not to give in to demonization and to take my responsibilities by sponsoring Eric Zemmour, it is moreover a purely personal decision: it engages neither my municipal council, nor my constituents. “It is in these terms that Jérôme Pardes, the unlabeled mayor elected in June 2020 at the head of the Gironde commune of Salaunes, had revealed his intention in a video published Thursday, January 6. Part of its municipal council did not appreciate this position taken by the mayor. It met behind closed doors on Tuesday after this sponsorship announcement that the mayor decided to maintain, according to information from Sud Ouest. After this crisis meeting, the elected officials decided to no longer respond to the press. Neither the mayor nor the opposition therefore responded to requests from 20 Minutes.

Mayor of Salaunes in Gironde, Jérôme Pardes decides to sponsor Eric Zemmour.
A sincere and courageous testimony, like the campaign we want to lead.#Zemmour2022 #Gironde pic.twitter.com/HKDLbV3BOK

– Dany (@Dany_AEZ) January 6, 2022

In this video, shared by the candidate’s campaign team, he explains that it is in order to help avoid a “denial of democracy”, that he wants to attribute his sponsorship to the far-right candidate. “It is not acceptable that a candidate who gathers nearly 15% of the voting intentions and who is at the head of a party in full expansion should be deprived of the presidential election for lack of sponsorship, while others who do not not meet 5% of the voting intentions will have them without difficulty, ”he delivers.

Two days after this video, he made a point of clarifying his position on his Facebook account: “I could have done the same with any other candidate who would have found himself in the same situation, he wrote to of its administrators. To be clear, this sponsorship pledge does not imply endorsement or endorsement of the ideas. It is a contribution to the Republican debate. He nevertheless said he was seduced by some of the ideas of the polemicist. Defending himself from being on the extreme right, he explains that he “does not accept being governed by people who think that there is no French culture and who think that universalism is more important than Patriotism “.