Video footage of French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigette Macron, in what appears to be a lover's quarrel, as they arrived in Vietnam for a state visit is being widely circulated on social media.
The clip, captured moments after Macron and his wife touched down at the Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi to kick off his Southeast Asia tour, appears to show the first lady shoving Macron in the face moments after the presidential plane's door opens up.
Brigette Macron remains concealed by the body of the aircraft but the French prime minister, seemingly taken aback by the shove, waves to the camera seconds later before making his way back inside the cabin.
The couple proceed down the staircase for the official welcome by Vietnamese officials, though Brigitte Macron does not take her husband's offered arm.
Macron's Office Responds to the Video, Claims it was a Harmless 'Squabble'
Macron's office initially denied the authenticity of the images, before they were confirmed as genuine. A close associate of the president later described the incident as a couple's harmless "squabble."
Another member of his entourage played down the significance of the incident. "It was a moment when the president and his wife were decompressing one last time before the start of the trip by joking around," the second source told reporters.
"It's a moment of togetherness. No more was needed to feed the mills of the conspiracy theorists," the source added, blaming pro-Russian accounts for negative comments about the incident.
This isn't the first time this month that the French minister's has gone viral on social media for the wrong reasons. Earlier this month, conspiracy theorists circulated a video showing Macron sitting at a table with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
They claimed the European leaders were trying to hide their drug use with what appeared to be a plastic bag with white powder in it on the table. The claim was later refuted by fact-checking websites with high-resolution images revealing that the white object in the video was, in fact, a tissue.
