French President Emmanuel Macron's wife, Brigitte, uttered a scathing four-word remark just after she was seen shoving him in the face with both her hands, a professional lip reader has revealed. The shocking incident took place as the couple exited their plane in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Sunday evening.
In the footage, 72-year-old Brigitte Macron is seen pressing her hands against the president's face before firmly shoving him in the face in a brief but tense exchange, after the plane's door opened. Although Macron brushed off the incident as a simple "squabble" between the two, the lip reader's analysis has revealed the confrontation may have been more heated than it appeared.
The Scream and the Shove
"As the aircraft door opens, President Macron is seen turning toward Brigitte. In an unexpected moment, she pushes him in the face," a lip reader told The Express. Once the door opened and Macron realized that the cameras were on, he greeted the crowd with a "Hi" and lifted his hand in acknowledgment.
"Emmanuel then steps closer to Brigitte before composing himself and crossing to the other side. Moments later, he signals for her to follow him with, 'Let's go,'" the lip reader said.
"He thanks the pilot and waves at the cameras, trying to recover the public-facing image."
"But at the top of the stairs, things turn icy again. He offers his arm; she ignores it, choosing to cling to the railing instead. As she passes, she appears to mutter, 'Dégage, espèce de loser,' translated in English, 'Stay away, you loser.'"
A few seconds later, according to the lip reader, Macron said, "Essayons, s'il te plaît," meaning "Let's try, please?" To which she simply replied, "Non."
"His closing expression, and the phrase lipread as 'Je vois,' translated in english "I see" says it all," the lip reader added.
"Hot Take: A rare unguarded exchange that hints at deeper tensions between the couple. One to watch, especially with a packed diplomatic schedule ahead."
Shocked Macron's Damage Control
Right after being shoved, Macron, 47, looked visibly shocked and embarrassed but quickly composed himself upon noticing the public watching. As she made her way down the stairs to meet Vietnamese dignitaries, Brigitte chose not to take her husband's extended arm.
The French president's office first dismissed the clip as fake but they later admitted that the footage was indeed real.
The president has since tried to downplay the incident. "We are squabbling and, rather, joking with my wife," Macron said Monday, adding that the incident was being blown out of proportion into "a sort of geo-planetary catastrophe" by his enemies.
"People are saying all sorts of nonsense. Everyone needs to calm down," he said.
The couple, married since 2007, first met in 1993 when Brigitte was a 39-year-old high school teacher and Emmanuel, then 15, was one of her students and also a classmate of her daughter.
