French conservative François Fillon pledges to stay in campaign
PARIS — With the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop, French conservative François Fillon clung tenaciously to his presidential candidacy Sunday, emboldened by thousands of supporters at a high-stakes rally aimed at quashing pressure on him to step aside because of impending corruption charges.
Crowds of flag-waving voters chanting “Fillon, President!” appeared to give him the confidence he needs to keep up the fight.
Fillon, a former prime minister, apologized to voters for errors in judgment but insisted he was being unfairly targeted in an election season.
Many conservatives want Alain Juppe, another former prime minister who was the runner-up in the party’s primary, to run in Fillon’s place.
Polls now suggest that far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist independent candidate Emmanuel Macron will come out on top in the first-round vote April 23.