Francois Fillon held a rally at the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Sunday to reinvigorate dwindling support, after he declared he'd be facing a judicial inquiry into allegations he misused public funds.
It's after it was claimed in the French satirical magazine Le Canard Enchaine that Fillon's wife Penelope and other family members were paid almost a million euros in public money to aid him in his politicial duties, but did not actually do the work they were paid for.
The Fillon family has denied the allegations and Penelope Fillon has urged her husband to continue his attempts to become French president, even though he vowed he would step down if an official investigation into his finances was launched - something he then went back on.
The centre-right candidate was favourite to win the French presidency this April and while he was ahead in the polls he declared his faith in God, something unusual for politicians in France to do given the secular laws and culture there.
Fillon told the TF1 television channel in January: "I am a Gaullist and furthermore a Christian.
"It means that I will never take a decision that would run counter to the respect of human dignity, the respect of the individual and solidarity."
Tweeting recently, Francois Fillon said: "Never has an operation of such size been launched to try to eliminate a candidate other than by the democratic process."
