A seemingly tense moment between French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, has set the internet abuzz after video footage surfaced showing the French First Lady appearing to push or slap her husband in the face as they disembarked from their private jet in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The incident, caught on camera by the Associated Press, unfolded on Sunday as the French presidential couple began a state visit to Vietnam. As they prepared to descend the aircraft steps, the couple appeared to exchange words before Brigitte suddenly pushed her hand toward Macron’s mouth in what some outlets have described as a “smack.” Macron, visibly surprised, quickly composed himself, offered a wave to the press, and proceeded down the stairs in silence with his wife.

At first, the Elysée Palace dismissed the footage outright, reportedly blaming it on “Russian disinformation,” according to Le Monde. However, President Macron later addressed the footage in a press briefing in Hanoi, describing the moment as “a little joke between husband and wife.”

“My wife and I were squabbling, we were rather joking, and I was taken by surprise,” Macron told reporters. “We are bickering and joking, and a video becomes a sort of geoplanetary catastrophe. In the world we live in, we don’t have a lot of time to lose … This is all a bit of nonsense.”

A French official also downplayed the moment, telling TMZ that it was simply “a moment of closeness” between the president and his wife before their official engagements began.

While Macron has called the incident “nonsense,” the video has sparked widespread commentary, not only on social media but also among political commentators. Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, speaking to Sky News Australia, weighed in, saying:

“This wasn’t a tap on the shoulder or a light touch – this was truly a smack. For her to know that this moment will really be on film sort of concerns me.”

Others have pointed out the odd optics of the moment, especially as Macron faces mounting political pressures at home and abroad, including bizarre and unsubstantiated rumors linking him to a supposed shared bag of cocaine with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a recent diplomatic train trip to Kyiv—claims all parties have firmly denied.

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