French President Emmanuel Macron is pushing back against speculation over a viral video showing his wife Brigitte appearing to shove his face aside as they exited a plane in Vietnam. “There’s a video showing me joking and teasing my wife and somehow that becomes a sort of geo-planetary catastrophe,” Macron told reporters in Hanoi, brushing off the clip as harmless.
But the footage tells a different story. As Macron steps out of the aircraft, Brigitte’s hands press against his face in a swift move. He looks briefly stunned, then recovers and waves. She later ignores his extended hand.
The Élysée Palace first denied the incident, then downplayed it as a “moment of togetherness.” Aides blamed pro-Russian trolls for fueling conspiracy theories. Still, the video’s authenticity is not in dispute, only the narrative. For many online, Macron’s explanation has raised more eyebrows than it settled.
