The Great Replacement is no longer a theory but a tangible reality, Paris-based lawyer Pierre Gentillet declared on French television channel, CNews.
“The goal is to replace the French civilization with other civilizations,” he told viewers. “It describes a phenomenon that is demographic (in nature), but not only that. And that is where it becomes interesting. It also has religious and ethnic components,” he added.
The term was originally coined by French author Renaud Camus in his 2010 book, The Great Replacement, in which he proposed the theory that indigenous French people were being demographically replaced by non-European peoples at a time when France was the subject of repeated terrorist attacks by Islamists.
“Tomorrow the debate will not be whether or not there is a great replacement but whether it is good or bad,” said Gentillet.
As Remix News has previously reported, the demographics of France are rapidly changing, especially in the country’s urban areas. In many countries, ethnic Europeans are projected to become a minority this century. In some cities, this demographic transformation has already occurred, with much of the growth coming from Muslims. Pew Research has also documented how the Muslim population of Europe could triple to 76 million by 2050.
Gentillet claimed right-wing presidential candidate Valérie Pécresse — who has followed in the footsteps of her conservative presidential rival Éric Zemmour in adopting the term — has done so because it describes a reality believed by a large number of French nationals. Polling shows 61 percent of French believe the Great Replacement is happening, and an even larger majority want a halt to immigration in the country.
[pp id=26346]
“In my opinion, Valérie Pécresse uses the term because it is here to stay and [this change] will not stop,” Gentillet said. “A study by France Stratégie [a think-tank attached to the prime minister’s office] looking at the past 15 years shows that there has been a major upheaval in French demographics.”
Pécresse has since tried to walk back her comments on the Great Replacement, saying it is “hateful,” but the fact that she at first used the term in a neutral manner during her speech shows that the term is becoming increasingly mainstream.
[pp id=6663]
Other eminent French intellectuals like Michel Onfray, a writer and philosopher, have argued in support of the theory’s validity, citing demographic data — not only in France but in much of the Western world as well — which supports the theory’s thesis.
Although Camus’ idea, which has become a major topic of discussion across Europe and North America, is commonly derided by establishment politicians and the mainstream press as a “conspiracy theory,” there is demographic data to support it, and this data may be why a majority of French people believe it is happening.
[pp id=19277]
Presidential candidate Éric Zemmour is arguably the reason why the Great Replacement has become a central campaign issue. Zemmour, who was a hugely popular commentator on French television for years, discussed the issue in detail in the past and has referred to it repeatedly during his campaign, helping raise public awareness.
“I think the anguish felt over the end of France as it was, the anguish of the Great Replacement, has become a global feeling,” said Zemmour in 2021 on CNews. “The fear of no longer being France, the fear of the famous Great Replacement. A lot of people are starting to think that Islam is going to replace us. It has become a massive feeling, a mass of 70 to 80 percent of France.”
[pp id=21279]
Other politicians, such as Republicans politician Eric Cotti, referred to the Great Replacement in November of last year, saying, “Why deny the obvious? We can see that our society is changing, moreover, I repeat, here again it is in the France Strategy which is placed alongside the prime minister who gave these figures which show that today there are more and more births in France linked to foreign parents or of foreign origin, this has accelerated considerably over the last ten or 20 years.
“You can call this phenomenon what you want, but I wish that France remains French. We are the inheritants of a magnificent history: that of the light but also that of a Judeo-Christian civilization.”
