French elections: Eric Zemmour criticised over 'Killer Macron' rally chants

French far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour at a campaign rally in Paris on Sunday

French President Emmanuel Macron has criticised rival presidential candidate Eric Zemmour after some of his supporters were heard chanting "Killer Macron" at a weekend rally.

Mr Zemmour was attacking the government over insecurity at the time.

The fact Mr Zemmour appeared to let the chanting go on drew widespread condemnation from politicians.

But the far-right former journalist said he did not hear the chants because of noise levels at the rally.

He later said he did not endorse the chants in question.

"Yesterday [Sunday], I did not hear this word that the press is talking about and that I do not endorse," he said on Twitter on Monday.

The chants began at the point in the rally when he mentioned "the resignation of the government" in the face of several high-profile murder cases of recent years, two of them anti-Semitic - that of Sarah Halimi and Mireille Knoll.

• French Holocaust survivor's killer jailed for life

• How killer escaped trial for anti-Semitic murder

On Sunday, Valérie Pécresse - the candidate for the centre-right Les Républicains - was one of the politicians to condemn the incident, saying "letting an opponent be treated as a killer was dangerous for the Republic", adding this was not "my France".

In Dijon on Monday morning - which marked the official start of the campaign period - Mr Macron reacted to the incident by describing Mr Zemmour's attitude as "undignified".

"There are two theories: the first is that it is a undignified act, which seems to be the most credible, but is not a surprise," he told reporters.

"The second one is that there's a lack of knowledge about a very important reform during my term in office," he added, explaining how the cost of hearing aids was now fully covered by the social security system.

"I invite the hard-of-hearing candidate to get himself equipped at lower cost," he added.

• Who's in the race to challenge Macron?

• French election: A really simple guide

The first round of the presidential elections is due to take place on 10 April, with a possible run-off on 24 April.

According to an opinion poll released on Tuesday, Mr Macron was seen to get 28% of votes in the first round, while far-right rival Marine Le Pen would garner 20%, left-wing candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon 15%, Ms Pécresse 11% and Mr Zemmour 10% of votes. Mr Macron was still predicted to win the election in the second round against Ms Le Pen.

Data supplied by NSPPolls