1 week ago
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A video showing Emmanuel Macron being pushed in the face by his wife has been played down by the French president's office.
Brigitte Macron placed her hands on her husband's face as they prepared to exit their plane after touching down in Vietnam at the start of a South East Asia tour.
President Macron is seen taking a step back before he recovers and waves to the cameras at the bottom of the aircraft stairs.
The pair then walk down the steps together.
The Elysee initially denied the authenticity of images of the interaction before eventually verifying they were real, French media reported.
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The clip has sparked suggestions of an argument between the pair but Mr Macron said afterwards it was a case of "simply joking with my wife as we often do".
Speaking to French media after landing in Hanoi he rubbished claims of a "domestic incident", instead telling broadcasters "it was nothing" and that people on social media were making "nonsense" out of the video.
Appearing frustrated, he claimed it is the third time in three weeks that he has had to clarify the true nature of video clips he has appeared in - after conspiracy theorists claimed it looked like he took cocaine with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and that he had a heated exchange with Turkish President Recep Erdogan.
"I haven't got lots of time to spare," he said. "And yet, I'm spending a lot of time explaining the interpretation of these types of videos.
"It's been three weeks, from Kyiv, to Tirana, and now Hanoi, there are people who have watched videos and believe that I've shared a packet of cocaine, had a head-to-head with the Turkish president, and now that I'm having a domestic with my wife.
"None of these things are true - however the videos are real."
He finished by insisting everyone needed to "calm down" and "interest themselves in current affairs" instead.
Perhaps only the Macrons know what really happened - but that hasn't stopped speculation from spreading
Whatever happened in the moments before Emmanuel Macron left his plane, the French president reacted like a politician, momentarily startled before turning to face the world with a smile and a wave.
What he couldn't stop was the viral reaction to the images of his wife, Brigitte, laying hands on his face.
In reality, perhaps only the Macrons themselves know what really happened, but that hasn't stopped a vast number of people from speculating and spreading.
And foremost among them has, of course, been the blend of political opponents and pro-Russian social media accounts that thrive on trying to discredit Mr Macron.
Over the past year, they have variously claimed Mrs Macron was born a man, the president (along with other EU leaders) is "drug-dependent", and Mr Macron has a secret handshake he uses with, among others, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
All nonsense, of course, but stirred up to try to diminish the EU's most prominent centrist politician.
Mr Macron's team first claimed it was all "fake news", but then they pivoted - wisely - into admitting something had happened, but playing down the value of that "something".
A tiff - a bit of light-hearted bickering. Something pretty much every couple in the world does regularly and certainly something the president seemed genuinely to laugh off.
Is there more to come from this? It's possible someone else who was on that plane will spill the beans about what led to the incident. And if they do, expect it to be spun with ever greater ferocity.
But perhaps the main thing it does is to add a fraction more pressure upon Mr Macron's shoulders.
French politics is fracturing, the political centre is struggling and he is increasingly used as a hate figure by European populists. Just like that moment in Hanoi, Mr Macron has to keep smiling - but it must be getting harder.
A source close to the president previously told the Le Figaro newspaper the pair had "squabbled" but it was a "moment of closeness".
An Elysee official denied the video showed a row between the couple, who have been married since 2007.
"It was a moment when the president and his wife were relaxing one last time before the start of the trip by having a laugh," the official said.
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