When push comes to shove, was the exchange between the first couple of France playful banter or something more sinister?
If you ask French President Emmanuel Macron, it was the result of him teasing his wife, Brigette, on Monday as they were getting off their plane in Vietnam.
According to a report on CNN, Macron addressed the issue when talking with reporters in Hanoi on Monday.
“There’s a video showing me joking and teasing my wife, and somehow that becomes a sort of geo-planetary catastrophe, with people even coming up with theories to explain it,” Macron said.
Macron said the video was real, but he did not like how it was being weaponized.
“The videos are all real, and yes, sometimes people tamper with them, but people are attributing all kinds of nonsense to them,” he said.
The clip shows the aircraft door opening and Macron in the doorway. Then, both of Brigitte Macron’s hands reach out and press against the president’s face.
Macron quickly recovers and waves to the press outside.
Watch:
French President Macron was slapped by his wife
Macron says the video has been edited
What do you think? pic.twitter.com/HkeIiNEiwo
— Pandit Ankit (@Pandiit_ankit) May 27, 2025
As the couple descends the steps, Macron offers Brigitte his arm. She does not take it.
“It was a moment when the president and his wife were unwinding one last time before the trip began, playfully teasing each other,” a source told CNN Monday. “No more was needed to feed the mills of the conspiracy theorists.”
The Macrons have been married since 2007, per The Hill.
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