President Macron and briefings on his behalf blamed conspiracy theorists, artificial intelligence, and even the Russians after footage of him being slapped by his wife spread on the internet.
President of France Emmanuel Macron is no more having a “domestic dispute” with his wife Brigitte than he is a cocaine addict, he said by way of reassurance on Monday in the wake of fast-spreading footage published Monday. Caught by press cameras as the President’s official jet arrived in Vietnam, a long-shot showing a slither of the interior of the plane shows Brigitte Macron pushing her husband, the President, away by the face with both hands.
The knee-jerk reaction of the Presidential Office at the Elysée Palace was to deny the footage was even real, notes Le Figaro, stating it was initially claimed the video was the work of artificial intelligence, even if it was quickly verified as genuine. What followed then was briefings against the video, claiming those spreading it had an interest in doing so.