Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

Why has Trump invited Zemmour – and not Le Pen – to his inauguration?

There will be two politicians from France in Washington next week to see Donald Trump sworn in as president – and Emmanuel Macron isn’t one of them. The president didn’t get an invite (unlike his European rival, Giorgia Meloni) and nor for that matter did Marine Le Pen.

It says much about how Reconquest is viewed by Team Trump that a party with no seats in the National Assembly is invited to his inauguration

The two French politicians invited to witness arguably the greatest political resurrection in American political history are Eric Zemmour and Sarah Knafo. The latter was until a few months ago best known as Zemmour’s partner – professionally and privately. The 31-year-old Knafo was an adviser to Zemmour when he launched his ‘Reconquest’ party in 2021, a telegenic woman described as his ‘éminence grise’.

Her backstory is unusual; her parents are Moroccan Jews who emigrated to France after the Six Day War in 1967.

Gavin Mortimer
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Gavin Mortimer

Gavin Mortimer is a British author who lives in Burgundy after many years in Paris. He writes about French politics, terrorism and sport.

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