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French President Emmanuel Macron has dismissed speculation about an alleged altercation with his wife, Brigitte Macron, during a state visit to Vietnam, attributing the viral incident to disinformation campaigns aimed at discrediting him.
A video clip, recorded by the Associated Press, shows Brigitte appearing to push her husband’s face away as they disembarked their plane in Hanoi on Sunday. While Macron seemed momentarily startled, he quickly turned to wave as they exited the aircraft. However, due to Brigitte’s position being mostly obscured, her facial expression and intent were not clearly visible.
Speaking to reporters, Macron insisted the moment was simply a private joke between the couple. “My wife and I were squabbling playfully. I was caught off guard,” he explained. “And now, it’s become a kind of global incident, sparking wild theories.”
This marks the third time in May that Macron has been the focus of misleading viral content. Earlier this month, social media users falsely claimed he was using cocaine during a joint visit to Kyiv with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Another video surfaced that seemingly depicted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dominating Macron in a handshake—footage Macron says has been misrepresented.
“None of these stories are true,” the French leader asserted, urging the public to “calm down”. He clarified that the item he removed from a table in the Kyiv video was simply a tissue, not drugs, and that the Erdogan clip was being distorted for political gain.
After the incident in Hanoi, the Macrons descended the plane’s stairs for their official welcome. Notably, Brigitte did not accept her husband’s arm when offered, a detail that added fuel to online speculation. The footage quickly spread across platforms, promoted by accounts known to be critical of Macron.
Initially, the Élysée Palace questioned the video’s authenticity, suggesting it might have been manipulated with artificial intelligence. However, they later acknowledged the footage was real, prompting Macron’s personal clarification.
“Across these three videos, I either picked up a tissue, shook a hand, or shared a joke with my wife — nothing more,” Macron said, accusing both foreign actors and domestic extremists of twisting harmless interactions for political gain.
He singled out Russia, which France accuses of conducting information warfare amid its ongoing conflict with Ukraine. Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who previously amplified the cocaine rumour, mocked the Hanoi incident on Telegram, joking that Brigitte had delivered a “right hook” to her husband and sarcastically blamed the “hand of the Kremlin”.
Vietnam is Macron’s first stop on a Southeast Asian tour aimed at positioning France as a dependable partner in the region, balancing influence between China and the United States. He is also scheduled to visit Indonesia and Singapore.
The Macrons’ relationship has long drawn public fascination. The couple met when Brigitte, now 72, was a drama teacher and Macron, now 47, was a student at a private school in Amiens. She later divorced her husband and began a relationship with the future president. As First Lady, she has occasionally taken legal action against false online claims, including those questioning her gender.
