French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent trip to Vietnam was supposed to be a meticulously choreographed diplomatic performance – a showcase of French soft power and economic clout in the Indo-Pacific. A €9 billion Airbus order, renewed defense talks, and strategic cooperation against China’s growing influence were all on the table. But instead of headlines focused on commerce and geopolitics, the world found itself transfixed by what looked like a surreal piece of physical comedy between the president and his wife, Brigitte Macron, at the top of the airplane stairs.

As the hatch opened, the cameras were already rolling, ready to capture the usual stately deplaning footage. Instead, they caught something far less dignified: Brigitte Macron appearing to shove or “slap” her husband’s face with a gesture that hovered somewhere between a vertical push-up and a well-rehearsed skit. Within hours, the moment went viral – and the high-stakes diplomacy meant to define the trip got completely overshadowed by what many initially assumed was either a deepfake, a joke, or a shocking breach of protocol.

In any case, the damage was done before Macron’s polished wingtips hit Vietnamese tarmac. The slap-like gesture, which immediately triggered a frenzy of zoom-ins, frame-by-frame analyses, and speculative Twitter threads, became the defining moment of the visit. French officials scrambled into damage control mode. First came the denials- the footage must have been manipulated. Then came the scapegoating- perhaps it was a Russian smear attempt. Finally, Elysee officials admitted it was real, but simply a “moment of complicity” between spouses – an innocuous display of affection misunderstood by outsiders.

“Let the one among us who’s never ‘unwound’ by shoving our spouse in the face cast the first baguette,” one sarcastic........

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