‘Just joking’: France President Macron denies dispute with wife

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday denied a domestic dispute with his wife, Brigitte, after a video showed him turning his face away as he arrived for a visit to Vietnam, blaming disinformation campaigns for trying to distort the footage.

The Elysee had hoped the Vietnam trip would showcase France’s reach into the Indo-Pacific, but that has been overshadowed by the incident that occurred after the presidential plane’s doors opened after landing in Hanoi on Sunday.

It is the third time this month that Macron has been the subject of viral video footage at a time when France says it is being repeatedly targeted by disinformation campaigns as Russia steps up its invasion of Ukraine.

It was falsely claimed that Macron had taken cocaine during a visit to Kiev with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and images also emerged showing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shaking hands with the French leader.

In Hanoi, Brexit reaches out with both hands and pushes her husband’s face, according to footage shot by the Associated Press.

The French president appears startled but quickly recovers and turns to wave through the open door. But with most of his body hidden by the plane, it is impossible to see his wife’s facial expressions or body language.

“My wife and I were arguing, we were joking, and I was shocked,” he said.

Macron told reporters that it had now become “a kind of planetary catastrophe, and some are even coming up with theories.”

‘Calm down’

Macron cited other incidents with the testimony, including photos taken on a train to Kiev where some accounts falsely claimed he had shared cocaine.

But Macron was removed from the table with a tissue when the media entered.

Meanwhile, Erdogan was filmed holding the president’s finger at a summit.

“None of them are true,” Macron said of the videos.

“Everyone needs to calm down,” he added.

After the incident in Hanoi, the couple descended the stairs to a state reception by Vietnamese officials, although Brigitte Macron did not hold her husband’s arm when he presented it.

The video has been circulating online, particularly promoted by accounts that are habitually hostile to the French leader.

Macron’s office initially denied the authenticity of the images, citing the possible use of artificial intelligence, before confirming they were real and Macron responded.

‘Nothing more’

“In these three videos I took a tissue, shook someone’s hand and just joked with my wife, as we often do. Nothing more,” Macron said.

He blamed the manipulation on “networks that are quite traceable”, pointing the finger specifically at “Russians” and “extremists in France”.

He stressed that the three videos were “completely authentic” but had no meaning attached to them.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who had actively promoted cocaine disinformation earlier this month, wrote on Telegram that Macron had “got the right hook from his wife”.

He said Macron’s advisers would try to deflect the signal by blaming Russia. “Maybe it was ‘the Kremlin’s hand’?” he said, sarcastically.

The first stop on Macron’s Southeast Asia tour is Vietnam, where he will present France as a credible alternative to the United States and China.

He will also visit Indonesia and Singapore.

The relationship between Macron, 47, and his 72-year-old wife has long been the focus of attention at home and abroad.

She was a drama teacher and he was a pupil when they met at a private school in their hometown of Amiens in northeastern France. The mother of three, Brigitte, divorced her husband and began a relationship with Macron when he was in his late teens.

A high-profile first lady, she has taken legal action to counter false claims on social media about her gender.