Former US president Donald Trump has told French far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour to “hang in there” in his campaign for the April election, Zemmour’s spokesman said on Tuesday. In a 40-minute phone conversation, Trump advised Zemmour to “stand his ground, hang in there and keep his spirits up”, spokesman Guillaume Peltier told the France 2 broadcaster. Zemmour is currently polling at 14 percent of first-round voting intentions, according to a poll by Ipsos, neck-and-neck with rival far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. The poll put incumbent President Emmanuel Macron in the lead with 24 percent, followed by right-wing contender Valerie Pecresse with 16.5 percent. In a statement, Zemmour’s team said the call with Trump on Monday had been “long and friendly” and had covered migration, security and economic issues in both countries. “They’re both pushing for the same thing — Donald Trump wants the US to remain the US, and Eric Zemmour wants France to remain France,” the statement said.