Zemmour, a former conservative TV pundit, advocates for a closer relationship between France and Russia with less reliance on the US.
AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, Michel Spingler
Former President Donald Trump has been in touch with French far-right presidential candidate Éric Zemmour and spoke with him on the phone Monday for 40 minutes, according to the Zemmour campaign.
Prior to the call, first reported by BFMTV, the pair also considered meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, but decided to speak over the phone first.
"He told me to remain who I am, that the media would call me brutal but that what mattered was to stay true to myself," Zemmour told reporters on Tuesday.
According to quotes relayed by the Zemmour campaign to BFMTV in French and translated to English by Insider, Trump told Zemmour that the media is treating him terribly and that he should "never change."
"Never change if you want to win," Trump reportedly said.
Trump's post-presidency office did not return Insider's request for comment.
Zemmour has advocated for mass deportations, constructing a European Union border wall, and has called unaccompanied migrant children "robbers," "murderers," and "rapists." He is also in favor of a closer relationship between France and Russia with less reliance on the US.
He is the leader of the newly formed "Reconquête!" party, or "Reconquest" in English.
The call with Trump comes on the heels of one of the most significant developments of Zemmour's campaign thus far. On Sunday, Stéphane Ravier, the lone senator of right-wing rival Marine Le Pen's National Rally party, formerly known as the National Front, endorsed Zemmour.
Formerly a public intellectual and conservative TV pundit on CNews — a French news outlet rebranded as right-leaning in 2017 — Zemmour is vying for a top two finish in the presidential election's first round on April 10.
Candidates from all parties can run in the first round, while the second round functions similarly to a US general election, but is decided by the popular vote instead.
French President Emmanuel Macron remains in a strong position in public polling despite his approval rating hovering in the high 30 percent to low 40 percent range.
Zemmour is among three candidates vying for the second spot, competing with Le Pen and her more established party along with center-right candidate Valérie Précesse of The Republicans.
Following the presidency of François Hollande of the Socialist Party, there has been an erosion of the two major parties in France — the Socialist Party and The Republicans — allowing for the rise of Macron and his Republic on the Move party and for the likes of Zemmour.
Trump had previously expressed support for Le Pen back in the 2017 French presidential election.
While the phone call with Zemmour was not a full-fledged endorsement, it marks a notable shift in the dynamics of the race and underscores Trump's continuing influence on the global-far right.
