Macron shrugs off viral shove from wife during Vietnam visit

French President Emmanuel Macron downplayed an incident involving his wife, Brigitte, during their arrival in Vietnam for a Southeast Asia tour. 

A video captured Brigitte appearing to push Macron in the face as he left the presidential plane late Sunday, prompting him to take a step back before he regained composure and waved to onlookers. 

The couple, married since 2007, descended the steps together, with Brigitte notably refusing to take her husband’s arm. 

“I was bickering, or rather joking, with my wife,” Macron told reporters in Hanoi. “It’s nothing.”

He cautioned that this was not the first time in recent weeks that the content of videos of him had been twisted by people he described as “crackpots”.

Macron cited a video shared on social media that showed him removing a crumpled white object from a table on a train during a visit to Ukraine. 

Some social media users suggested — without providing evidence — that the object was a bag of cocaine. Macron said it was a tissue and his office accused France’s enemies of spreading fake news.

Earlier on Monday, an Elysee official said of the latest video: “It was a moment when the president and his wife were relaxing one last time before the start of the trip by having a laugh.”