Macron responds to *that* video with Brigitte, but a body language expert has another version

Emmanuel Macron went viral on Twitter today after his wife, Brigitte, seemingly slapped him after touching down in Vietnam. As the captain of the plane opened the door, Macron could be seen in a blue suit as a woman, not in the frame, looked to slap him with two hands. At this point, he’d noticed the people outside, giving them a smile and a wave before continuing on with the conversation. It was only once the President emerged from the plane that it became clear it was Brigitte. Soon enough, people noticed him clenching his hands on the visit, with many taking it as a sign he was seething with anger.

The short clip has sparked massive amounts of speculation, with one person writing on Twitter: “They opened the door at the perfect time. What happened before that, I wonder.”

“Politicians are just clowns on a world circus stage. They live a private, miserable life. Their conscience torments them,” another said.

Both Macron and his government have since issued statements about the alleged slap, but a body language expert has argued another theory.

Emmanuel Macron semble avoir été frappé par Brigitte Macron.

Le frappait elle déjà quand il était enfant ?

Ce couple est dangereux… pic.twitter.com/hvoFeOxSkQ

— Bruno Attal (@Bruno_Attal_) May 26, 2025

What did President Emmanuel Macron say about the slap?

Even before the slap, Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron’s relationship had been highly controversial. They first met when she was 39, married and with kids, and he was just 15. She was his teacher, but they didn’t marry until 2007, a year after she divorced her husband.

Later on the trip to Vietnam, while talking to reporters in the capital city of Hanoi, President Emmanuel Macron seemingly brushed away speculation as he claimed it was simply “nothing” to worry about.

“I was bickering, or rather joking, with my wife. It’s nothing,” he said.

Après un long voyage, nous arrivons à Hanoï avec la délégation française.

Première étape d’une tournée stratégique au Vietnam, en Indonésie puis à Singapour.

C’est dans cette région de l’Indopacifique que se joue une part de notre avenir à tous, Françaises et Français.… pic.twitter.com/xqyk88OPvz

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) May 25, 2025

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A representative for the government also said: “It was a moment when the president and his wife were relaxing one last time before the start of the trip by having a laugh… It was a moment of closeness.”

A body language expert offered a different version of events

Despite Macron’s insistence that the slap was a bit of joking around, body language expert Judi James told the MailOnline that it was actually more serious. She even went as far as to say that the French government were trying to “save political face.”

“I would not describe the gesture we saw from inside the plane as one of ‘play’ as has been claimed,” she explained.

“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 normalized by calling it “fun” just to save political face.”

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Featured image credit: Emmanuel Macron/Twitter & Urman Lionel/ABACA/Shutterstock