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President Macron’s office originally tried to claim video of first lady slapping him was a Russian plot

president-macron’s-office-originally-tried-to-claim-video-of-first-lady-slapping-him-was-a-russian-plot
President Macron’s office originally tried to claim video of first lady slapping him was a Russian plot

French President Emmanuel Macron’s press team originally claimed that a video of the country’s First Lady Brigitte Macron slapping her husband was a Russian plot, according to initial reports.

“At the beginning, the Elysee [Palace] denied the truth of the images, suggesting a video generated by AI and relayed by pro-Russian accounts before finally authenticating the sequence which [they said] evoked a moment of ‘complicity,’” said news outlet Breves de Presse in a post on X Monday.

Brigitte Macron's hands grab Emmanuel Macron's face.

Brigitte Macron shoved her husband in the face as they prepared to disembark from their plane to begin an official visit in Vietnam on Sunday.

Officials later walked back the comments after the Associated Press authenticated the footage, which shows Brigitte slapping her husband’s face as they prepared to disembark from their plane in Hanoi Sunday.

Blaming the Kremlin for most things that go wrong in France has become a national pastime, according to one observer. Jean-Noel Barrot, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, blamed Russia for an outbreak of bedbugs in the months before Paris was set to host the Olympic Games last year.

Brigitte Macron and Emmanuel Macron walk down airplane stairs.

The Elysee Palace initially told reporters that the slap video was part of an elaborate Russian disinformation campaign to embarrass the Macrons. AFP via Getty Images

Jean-Noel Barrot, France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, carries a blue folder under his left arm.

France’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot also blamed the Kremlin for “amplifying” a bed bug infestation months before last year’s Olympic Games in Paris. AFP via Getty Images

Vladimir Putin sits on an ornate chair.

French officials initially blamed a video of Brigitte Macron shoving her husband on a plane on Russian disinformation. POOL/AFP via Getty Images

But French observers told The Post that Brigitte’s slap had nothing to do with Russia and everything to do with keeping her much younger husband in line.

Brigitte, 72, is 25 years older than her husband, whom she met when she was his drama and literature teacher in high school in the city of Amiens in northern France. Brigitte Auziere, as she was known at the time, was a married mother of three when she fell in love with her 15-year-old student. Macron is now 47.

“Honestly, I don’t think they have a bad relationship,” said one Parisian source. “It’s just Mum with her boy, if you see what I mean.”

A young Emmanuel Macron kisses Brigitte Macron.

Brigitte Auziere was a married mother of three when she met the 15-year-old Emmanuel Macron. France 3

Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Macron on their wedding day in 2007.

Brigitte Macron has been described as a mother figure to her much younger husband, whom she married in 2007. France 3

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron greeting public at the Lincoln Memorial during their state visit to Washington, DC.

“Honestly, I don’t think they have a bad relationship,” said one Parisian source of the Macrons. “It’s just Mum with her boy, if you see what I mean.” Getty Images

For Carole Raphaelle Davis, an actor and writer, who spends time between Los Angeles and Nice, the slap incident — known in France as “la gifle” — was a very public glimpse into a private moment in the first couple’s marriage. They have been married since 2007.

“Brigitte Macron was full-on James Cagney in ‘Public Enemy,’” said Davis. “This is a powerful woman slapping — no, b–ch-smacking — a man who sometimes behaves like a little king. It’s wrong but it’s riveting … For French women, left, right and center, she smacked all men who push our limits.”

Maelle Brun, the author of a biography about Brigitte, has said the first lady has long acted as a guiding force for her ambitious husband. “Her role remains constant: to inspire, to counsel as she did on the school benches of La Providence school,” she wrote in her book, “Brigitte Macron: An Unfettered Woman” 

“Before she put him on the path, Macron said he lived ‘an immobile life’ there,” Brun wrote.

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