New Delhi: A video of French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron from their visit to Vietnam has gone viral, causing a stir on social media platforms.
The video, captured at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport on Sunday evening, shows President Macron standing inside the presidential aircraft, seemingly in a stern conversation with his wife. Moments later, Brigitte Macron is seen reaching out and appearing to shove or slap the President, just as the aircraft doors opened.
🔥🚨BREAKING: President Macron’s wife slapped slapped him before getting off plane in Hanoi. pic.twitter.com/oSpVEZlHQ2
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) May 26, 2025
The footage further shows the President, caught off guard, quickly composed himself, smiled, and waved to the cameras. He then extended his arm to escort Brigitte off the aircraft, but she instead chose to hold onto the handrail, further fuelling speculation.
Debate on social media
The netizens reacted to the footage after it went viral. “Did Brigitte just shove his face?” one user asked on X, while another remarked, “Actually concerning — where this is done in public, imagine what happens behind closed doors.” A third suggested that the gesture may have been playful or even a misunderstanding. “I think she was trying to clean something on his nose,” one wrote.
While, no clear evidence has emerged to suggest the exchange was aggressive or malicious in nature, people started describing it as “slap” or “smack”.
‘A harmless scuffle’
Initially, the Élysée Palace dismissed the video as fake. But as French media, including The Sun and BFMTV, confirmed the footage’s authenticity—corroborated by a live stream from the Associated Press—the President’s office altered its tone.
A close aide to President Macron told BFMTV that the moment was merely “a harmless scuffle” adding, “It was a moment when the president and his wife were relaxing one last time before the start of the trip by having a laugh. It was a moment of closeness.”
Speaking to reporters in Hanoi, President Macron himself brushed aside the controversy, saying, “We were just joking, as we often do.”
Another official from his entourage blamed the heightened scrutiny on “pro-Russian circles” and conspiracy theorists.
Past controversies
This is not the first time Macron and his wife have been the subject of online controversy. The President earlier had to dismiss rumours suggesting that Brigitte Macron was born male, calling the claims misogynistic and fabricated. More recently, the French leader was also targeted by a “pro-Russian conspiracy theory” involving doctored footage that falsely showed a bag of cocaine during a diplomatic trip to Kyiv.
President Macron is in Vietnam to begin a week-long tour of Southeast Asia, with stops planned in Indonesia and Singapore. The trip aims to boost French influence and secure strategic and economic ties in the region.
