‘Everyone Needs To Calm Down’: Macron On ‘Rift’ With Wife After Viral Video Of Face Push At Vietnam Airport

<p>French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday dismissed speculation about a domestic dispute with his wife, Brigitte Macron, after a video showing her seemingly pushing his face away went viral on social media. The footage shot as the French presidential aircraft landed in Hanoi on Sunday has sparked a wave of online commentary and disinformation, according to Macron.</p>
<p>The visit to Vietnam, intended to strengthen France&rsquo;s influence in the Indo-Pacific region, has been overshadowed by the incident, news agency AFP reported. The video appears to show Brigitte Macron sticking out both her hands and shoving her husband&rsquo;s face as they disembark the aircraft. Emmanuel Macron looks briefly startled before regaining composure and turning to wave. However, with most of Brigitte&rsquo;s body obscured by the plane, her expression and gestures remain unclear.</p>
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<p dir=”ltr” lang=”es”>”Macron”:<br />Por comentarios sobre lo que sucedi&oacute; durante la llegada del presidente de Francia a Vietnam junto a su esposa Brigitte <a href=”https://t.co/dln5S24HGG”>pic.twitter.com/dln5S24HGG</a></p>
&mdash; &iquest;Por qu&eacute; es tendencia? (@porquetendencia) <a href=”https://twitter.com/porquetendencia/status/1926994838609637378?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>May 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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<p>Addressing the controversy, Macron told reporters, &ldquo;My wife and I were squabbling, we were rather joking, and I was taken by surprise.&rdquo; According to AFP, he added, &ldquo;Now it&rsquo;s become a kind of planetary catastrophe, and some are even coming up with theories.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Macron also expressed frustration over a series of recent viral videos that he said have been misinterpreted or deliberately distorted as part of a broader disinformation campaign. &ldquo;For three weeks&hellip; there are people who have watched videos and think I shared a bag of cocaine, that I had a fight with the Turkish president, and that now I&rsquo;m having a domestic dispute with my wife,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;None of these are true. Everyone needs to calm down,&rdquo; he remarked, as quoted by AFP’s report.</p>
<h3><strong>Viral Videos Falsely Claim Macron ‘Sharing Cocaine’ With Starmer, Merz</strong></h3>
<p>One of the earlier videos, shot on a train to Kyiv, falsely claimed Macron was sharing cocaine with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Macron clarified that the item he removed from the table was a tissue. In another clip, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was seen gripping Macron&rsquo;s finger during a handshake at a summit, which was framed by some as an act of domination.</p>
<p>Following the incident in Hanoi, the French First Lady did not take her husband&rsquo;s arm despite his gesture, during the formal welcome by Vietnamese officials. The video continued to circulate rapidly, especially among accounts that are typically critical of the French leader. While the &Eacute;lys&eacute;e Palace initially denied the footage&rsquo;s authenticity, it later confirmed the video was genuine. A close aide of Macron described the interaction as a harmless &ldquo;squabble&rdquo; between the couple.</p>
<p>&ldquo;In these three videos I took a tissue, shook someone&rsquo;s hand and just joked with my wife, as we do quite often. Nothing more,&rdquo; Macron reiterated, as per the report.</p>
<p>He also criticised some commentators, saying, &ldquo;We have loads of accounts, anonymous or not, whose frustrations are going to their heads, including news commentators who said this morning that I have the diplomacy of a beaten man.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Macron&rsquo;s current trip to Southeast Asia includes stops in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore, where he aims to position France as a viable geopolitical partner beyond the influence of the United States and China.</p>
<p>The personal relationship between Macron, 47, and Brigitte, 72, has long drawn attention both within France and internationally. The couple first met when Brigitte, then a drama teacher, taught Macron at a private school in Amiens. She was previously married with three children and began a relationship with Macron while he was still a teenager. In recent years, Brigitte Macron has pursued legal action against false social media claims regarding her gender.</p>