Former White House press secretary claims 'real seriousness' to incident where French President Emmanuel Macron shoved by wife

Sky News AU

27-05-2025

Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer has weighed into the viral moment involving French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, declaring it looked to have had a "real seriousness" to it.
The interaction between the President and wife Brigitte Macron occurred when the couple prepared to disembark a plane in Hanoi, Vietnam on Sunday night ahead of a tour of Southeast Asia.
In the footage, as Mr Macron was seen coming into frame, the arm of his wife was captured pushing him in the face before then seemingly refusing to hold her husband's arm as they walked down the steps onto the tarmac.
When speaking to reporters in the Vietnamese capital shortly after, he said he "was bickering, or rather joking, with my wife", adding "it's nothing".
After seeing vision of the incident, Spicer said while it was "funny" and that most people had found humour in the moment, there was a "real seriousness" to it.
"There is a real seriousness to this for all of the talk that we've had over the past few years about domestic violence. And it goes both ways, and I know that there's a lot of jokes to be had at Macron's expense. But there is a serious aspect to this that I don't think should be overlooked," he told Sky News' The Bolt Report on Tuesday.
"And I know even when their initial response, they tried to initially deny this, but the tape was so clear as to what was going on. So I think we've got to figure out how to balance this."
Spicer said he had met the Macrons previously when he was part of President Donald Trump's first administration and visited the French ambassador's residence in Brussels on the sidelines of a NATO summit.
He described them as "kind and welcoming" but joked Mr Macron's "very warm" relationship with Trump could come in handy if the relationship with his wife were as rocky as the viral footage may have indicated.
"He's always had a very warm relationship with President Trump, but he might wanna come stay at Blair House here in the United States to get out of town if things continue the way that they might be," he said.
Spicer said while the Trumps had previously come under the spotlight for a moment where Melania could be seen pushing her husband's hand away, this was an incident that was more dramatic, describing it as "truly a smack".
"This wasn't a tap on the shoulder or a you know, a light touch this was truly a smack and I will give Macron credit for how he responded to it because the other thing that I thought to myself is that these folks have been in the public eye for quite some time," he said.
"She has to know that the cameras are on them so to me it was almost like that it was so intentional.
"It's one thing to do something in private, again not condoning having somebody discover some private moment that you're sharing as a husband and a wife but for her to actually know that this moment was going to be on film really kind of concerns me."