HANOI: When French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Vietnam to start a trip of Southeast Asia, his wife seemed to shove his face away, but his administration played down the event Monday. The Associated Press news agency captured footage of Macron’s aircraft door opening to reveal him in Hanoi on Sunday night. From the left of the open doorway, his wife Brigitte’s arms appear. She shoves her husband’s face with both hands.
After a moment of shock, the president immediately gathers himself and turns to wave through the open door. It is hard to discern her body language or facial expression because she is still hidden by the aeroplane fuselage. Brigitte Macron declines her husband’s offered arm as the pair descends the stairs for the formal greeting by Vietnamese authorities. Online accounts that are often critical of the French leader helped spread the video very quickly.
Before the photos were verified as legitimate, Macron’s team first rejected their veracity. The event was later characterised as a harmless “squabble” between a couple by a close colleague of the president. Another person in his group downplayed the incident’s importance. The second insider told reporters, “It was a moment when the president and his wife were decompressing one last time before the start of the trip by joking around.”
Also Read:
Damascus Aims to Reassure the West as Syria Relaunches its Interior Ministry
The Saudi Artist Bringing a Fresh Perspective to Traditional Crafts
