PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron, who appeared to be pushed in the face by his wife while disembarking from a plane, downplayed the incident, saying the real issue was the reaction it sparked.
He described it as part of a series of disinformation efforts spread by “crazy people.”
A video captured a surprising moment as French President Emmanuel Macron was pushed in the face by his wife, Brigitte, just before they disembarked from a plane in Hanoi, Vietnam.
As the aircraft door was opened by staff, two hands—belonging to Brigitte Macron—suddenly reached out and made contact with the president’s face. Macron appeared briefly stunned, then quickly looked up at a camera filming the scene from outside and gave a wave.
The incident occurred on Sunday and was widely shared, drawing mixed reactions online. The video spread quickly.
Macron, on Monday, said that the video had captured him and his wife “bickering and rather, joking around,” something, he said, “we often do.”
“I’m surprised by it, it turns into some kind of global catastrophe where people are even coming up with theories to explain it,” he said on Monday. “It’s nonsense.”
President Emmanuel Macron, whose arrival in Vietnam marked the beginning of a five-day state visit to Southeast Asia, addressed the viral video incident, calling it the latest example of disinformation spread by “crazy people” targeting him in recent weeks.
While he acknowledged the footage was authentic, he dismissed the interpretations circulating online as completely false.
He pointed to a similar incident two weeks earlier when he travelled to Kyiv by train alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
In that case, a video showed a tissue lying on a table in their cabin, which some social media users falsely claimed was a “bag of cocaine.”
The Élysée Palace, the president’s office, in a social media post, said, “When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs. This fake news is being spread by France’s enemies, both abroad and at home. We must remain vigilant against manipulation.”
Ivan Rioufol, a right-wing political columnist, said the video clip implied “there may be domestic violence against men.”
Commenting on the incident aboard the plane, Rioufol told Europe 1 television that it appeared to reveal an imbalance in the relationship between President Macron and his wife.
“He can’t even command respect from his own wife in front of the cameras,” Rioufol remarked.
