Brigitte Macron’s Gesture Towards President Sparks Debate: Examining the Plane Incident
Following the emergence of a video that appeared to show Brigitte Macron nudging her husband, the French President, in the face as they were disembarking a plane in Vietnam, the President’s office has dismissed any suggestion of marital strife.
The video, captured on Sunday upon the Macrons’ arrival in Vietnam for the start of his Southeast Asia trip, depicts the President standing at the aircraft door. Subsequently, a pair of hands, identified as belonging to Brigitte due to the red blazer she was wearing, reach out and seem to push him aside.
Macron briefly steps back, turns his head, and then smiles and waves towards the press.
Brigitte did not link arms with her husband as they descended the plane’s stairs together.
The moment gained traction across French media, prompting discussion about the interaction. Le Parisien, a daily newspaper, ran the headline: “Slap or Squabble?”
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Macron brushed off the incident, saying he had been “joking” with his wife and that “everyone needs to calm down.”
His office echoed this sentiment, describing the moment as “a moment of closeness” between the couple.
According to the AP, his office stated that “it was a moment where the president and his wife were decompressing one last time before the start of the trip by horsing around. It’s a moment of complicity. It was all that was needed to give ammunition to the conspiracy theorists.”
The French president used the incident to caution against online misinterpretations, referencing earlier false claims that a crumpled tissue seen during a train journey to Ukraine was actually a bag of cocaine.
Here’s what we know about the couple.
How did Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron meet?
The Macrons’ relationship has been a subject of intense interest in France for a long time.
Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte first encountered each other when he was a 15-year-old student at La Providence, a private school in Amiens, France, where Brigitte was employed as a teacher. Sources say the pair became close while collaborating on a play, with Brigitte running a theater workshop.
Initially, the president’s parents believed their son was interested in Brigitte’s daughter, who was one of his classmates. However, after discovering the true nature of the relationship between Emmanuel and Brigitte, who was married to André-Louis Auzière at the time and had three children, they sent their son to Lycée Henri-IV in Paris for his final year of schooling.
Jean-Michel Macron, Emmanuel Macron’s father, stated, “When Emmanuel met Brigitte, we certainly did not say, ‘How wonderful!’”
Reportedly, before leaving, the then-schoolboy told Brigitte: “Whatever you do, I will marry you.”
The couple eventually married in 2007. He was 29 and she was 54, one year after her divorce.
What role has Brigitte Macron played as First Lady?
After his presidential victory in 2017, Macron issued a “charter” to define his partner’s role within the government.
According to the new guidelines, Brigitte would represent France at international summits and meetings, support Macron’s efforts as head of state, and collaborate with charities and other cultural organizations in areas such as “disability, education, health, culture, child protection and gender equality.”
The First Lady regularly hosts Le Gala des Pièces Jaunes, a charity event in Paris to collect funds for sick and hospitalized children.
France’s First Lady has also addressed the issue of cyberbullying. During a 2019 meeting, she read letters from parents and students describing the devastating effects of online bullying.
She stated, “It’s relentless. Before, we went home at 4:00 pm and that was it, we could relax. Now, it’s day and night.”
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