A lip reader has revealed what French President Emmanuel Macron’s wife said after she “shoved him” in a now viral video.
The video shows the 47-year-old standing at an aircraft door at Hanoi Airport. The door then opens and his wife, Brigitte, can be seen reaching her hands towards his face in a brief shoving motion.
He seems surprised by this move but turns around and waves to the media before the couple walk down the stairs. His wife then refuses to take his offered arm.
Watch the incident below:
The video has circulated online causing many to speculate about what happened, including Russian state media and French far-right media.
At first, the Élysée Palace dismissed the video as “fake news”, but now Macron has insisted the video is real and that it has been taken out of context.
He said: “There’s a video showing me joking and teasing my wife, and somehow that becomes a sort of geo-planetary catastrophe, with people even coming up with theories to explain it,”.
“We are horsing around, having a joke, and I was surprised by that, and that becomes a sort of geopolitical disaster,” he continued. “It’s nonsense. People read all kinds of stupidity into things.”
A spokesperson from the Élysée Palace agreed with these statements, claiming the interaction was “a moment of complicity” and that the couple were “decompressing one last time” before turning to their official business.
One source from the palace said “It wasn’t even a slap,”.
Now, a lip reader has revealed to The Express what was said.
“As the aircraft door opens, President Macron is seen turning toward Brigitte. In an unexpected moment, she pushes him in the face,” they said.
“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, clinging to the railing instead. As she passes, she appears to mutter, ‘Dégage, espèce de loser,’ translated in English, ‘Stay away, you loser.’”
They then claimed Macron said: “Essayons, s’il te plaît” — which translated to, “Let’s try, please?”
She then replies, “Non.”
“His closing expression, and the phrase lipread as ‘Je vois,’ translated in english “I see” says it all,” they 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.” they added.