Featured Image Credit: BBC
Topics: Emmanuel Macron, Politics, Viral
Jess Battison
A body language expert has given their take on Emmanuel Macron’s response to being ‘slapped in the face’ by his wife Brigitte.
The French president was captured in controversial footage with his wife Brigitte, that quickly went viral as she seemed to lay hands on him.
A lip reader also ‘revealed’ what Macron said following the bizarre incident that took place as the pair landed in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Sunday evening (25 May).
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The 47-year-old has since released a statement after the video circulated, claiming it was simply them ‘joking and teasing’.
“Somehow that becomes a sort of geo-planetary catastrophe, with people even coming up with theories to explain it," he said. “The videos are all real, and yes, sometimes people tamper with them, but people are attributing all kinds of nonsense to them."
Well, Macron can say what he likes, but the sleuths online have been quick to carry on with picking apart the footage and the public appearances that have followed.
Body language expert Judi James reckons the interaction wasn’t exactly ‘playful’ as suggested by officials.
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“I would not describe the gesture we saw from inside the plane as one of 'play' as has been claimed," she alleged to MailOnline.
“Pushing your partner in the face with your hand so hard their head reels to the side and they need to put a hand out to keep balance, especially with what looks like an extra ‘shove’ at the end of the contact, should not be normalised by calling it ‘fun’ just to save political face.”
A lip reader also told The Express that Macron quickly tried to ‘recover’ the couple’s image, but things escalated as Brigitte apparently muttered under her breath: “Dégage, espèce de loser.”
For those without a 300-day Duolingo streak, that means: “Stay away, you loser.”
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The lip reader then alleges that Macron responded with: ““Essayons, s’il te plaît” (“Let’s try, please?” before his wife gave a hard ‘non’. And you don’t even need a French GCSE to get that one.
James has said that appearances during the couple’s tour in Asia were bordering ‘overkill’, claiming their non-verbal signals suggest they are trying to ‘prove nothing is wrong’.
The body language expert says they are 'looking like a bride and groom on their wedding day' as they attempt to recover from the incident.
“It's over-performed and unlikely to throw enough 'litter' over the shocking scene that was shown around the world,” she said, alleging Brigette is suddenly acting ‘sweetly submissive’ and Macron ‘dominant’.