Video of my wife pushing me shows us ‘joking around’, not quarreling — Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron has denied that he and his wife, Brigitte Macron, had an altercation after a viral video appeared to show her pushing him in the face as they arrived in Vietnam.

The footage, captured by an Associated Press camera operator, shows Macron in the doorway of a plane during their arrival in Hanoi.

As the president pauses to wave, a hand—presumed to be Brigitte Macron’s—appears to nudge his face, causing him to step back momentarily.

While Brigitte’s body is not visible in the frame, Macron told reporters afterward that the gesture was playful. “We were joking around, as we do quite often,” he said in Hanoi.

Despite this explanation, Russian state media and far-right commentators quickly seized on the clip. Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry, mocked the footage on Telegram, writing: “Did the first lady decide to cheer up her husband with a gentle pat on the cheek and miscalculated her strength? Did she want to fix his collar but ended up reaching the beloved face?”

She added sarcastically, “Here’s a hint: maybe it was the ‘hand of the Kremlin’.”

Russian broadcaster RT and its social media accounts repeatedly aired the video, fueling speculation.

An Élysée Palace official told French media the scene showed “a moment of closeness. But that was enough to feed the conspiracy theorists.”

Another source close to the presidential couple said the moment was lighthearted. “They were decompressing one last time before the start of the visit, larking around.

Macron loves playing jokes like on his wife before official occasions, and she always responds like this … It wasn’t even a slap.”

Later, the Macrons took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi.

Macron, who has faced misinformation campaigns before, noted how often videos of him are misinterpreted.

“People have thought I shared a bag of cocaine, tussled with the Turkish president, now that I’m having a domestic dispute with my wife … None of this is true. Everyone needs to calm down,” he told reporters.

Earlier this month, Zakharova and U.S. conspiracy theorist Alex Jones falsely accused Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer of using drugs on a train to Kyiv, claiming a crumpled tissue was evidence.

Macron said the accounts behind these claims were “familiar,” linking Russian actors with French far-right extremists. “Commentators explained this morning that my diplomacy was that of a battered husband,” he added.

Meanwhile, France and Vietnam signed deals worth €9 billion on Monday. The agreements cover Airbus planes, nuclear energy, defense, rail and maritime transport, satellites, and vaccines.

This visit is the first official trip by a French presidential couple to Vietnam in nearly a decade.

(The Guardian)

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