It was only a lil’ playfight! That was how French President Emmanuel Macron defined viral video photographs that present his spouse, Brigitte, smushing his face. The second occurred this weekend earlier than the couple bought off their airplane to start out a tour of Southeast Asia.

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Right here’s A Breakdown Of The Viral Incident

In a video taken by The Related Press, the Macrons are seen arriving in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Sunday, Might 25. A uniformed man pulls open the airplane door, revealing the French president standing inside, wearing a swimsuit, and speaking to somebody who isn’t seen. Brigitte Macron’s arms — in crimson — are seen reaching out and pushing Macron away, with one hand overlaying his mouth and a part of his nostril whereas the opposite was on his jaw. The French chief recoiled, turning his head away. Then, apparently realizing he was on digital camera, he smiled and gave a bit wave. In follow-up photographs, Macron and his spouse seem on the high of the steps. He affords an arm, however she doesn’t take it. They stroll down the carpeted stairs aspect by aspect.

The following factor President Emmanuel Macron knew, he and his spouse had been making headlines in France. For instance, the headline of a narrative on the web site of the day by day Le Parisien newspaper requested, “Slap or ‘squabble’?” It continued, “The photographs of Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron disembarking in Vietnam set off a number of remark.”

French President Addresses Viral Second With Brigitte

Nevertheless, on Monday (Might 26), the French president advised reporters that he and Brigitte had been joking. For context, Emmanuel Macron and his spouse bought married in 2007.

“We’re squabbling and, reasonably, joking with my spouse,” President Macron mentioned, including that the incident was being overblown into “a form of geo-planetary disaster.”

The French chief argued that the photographs and response to them provided a cautionary story about disinformation within the social media age. He famous that in current weeks, different movies had been used to flow into made-up tales about him.“Everybody must relax,” President Emmanuel Macron mentioned. His workplace additionally downplayed the interplay.

“It was a second the place the president and his spouse had been decompressing one final time earlier than the beginning of the journey by horsing round. It’s a second of complicity. It was all that was wanted to present ammunition to the conspiracy theorists,” the president’s workplace mentioned.

A Controversial Love Story?

This isn’t the primary time the French president’s marriage has made headlines. Since they wed in 2007, there have been whispers and questions on how they met.

For context, Brigitte Macron was Brigitte Auzière, a married mom of three youngsters, when she and Emmanuel met at his highschool. A trainer, she supervised the drama membership the place Macron was a member. As a scholar, the now-president was a literature lover. He moved to Paris for his final 12 months of highschool, however promised to marry Brigitte. She later moved to the French capital to hitch him and divorced earlier than they lastly married.

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Related Press Workers John Leicester contributed to this report.