Paris
\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron has dismissed a viral video showing his wife Brigitte pushing his face away as they disembarked from a plane in Vietnam for the first leg of a Southeast Asia tour.
\nSpeaking to reporters in Hanoi on Monday, Macron addressed the clip directly, pushing back against the speculation it sparked.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s a video showing me joking and teasing my wife and somehow that becomes a sort of geo-planetary catastrophe, with people even coming up with theories to explain it,\u201d the president said.
\nMacron acknowledged the footage was genuine but criticized how it had been weaponized. \u201cThe videos are all real, and yes, sometimes people tamper with them, but people are attributing all kinds of nonsense to them.\u201d
\nThe short clip shows the aircraft door opening with Macron appearing in the doorway. Seconds later, both of Brigitte Macron\u2019s hands reach out from the side and press against the president\u2019s face in what looks like a sudden shove.
\nMacron appears momentarily surprised but quickly regains his composure and waves to the press outside.
\nAs the couple descend the steps, Macron offers Brigitte his arm, which she does not take, opting instead to hold the railing.
\nThe \u00c9lys\u00e9e initially denied the incident on the plane, before later moving to downplay its significance.
\nThe couple were merely bickering, a source close to the president told CNN affiliate BFM TV. It was a \u201cmoment of togetherness,\u201d according to an \u00c9lys\u00e9e source.
\n\u201cIt was a moment when the president and his wife were unwinding one last time before the trip began, playfully teasing each other,\u201d the source told CNN Monday.
\n\u201cNo more was needed to feed the mills of the conspiracy theorists,\u201d the source added, saying pro-Russian trolls were quick to spin the moment into controversy.
\nMacron has been at the forefront of efforts to agree a coordinated European response to defending Ukraine following Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion in 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paris French President Emmanuel Macron has dismissed a viral video showing his wife Brigitte pushing his face away as they disembarked from a plane in Vietnam for the first leg of a Southeast Asia tour. Speaking to reporters in Hanoi on Monday, Macron addressed the clip directly, pushing back against the speculation it sparked. \u201cThere\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481042,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-481012","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n