World Leader Cocaine Party Claims Force Official Response
Rumors that Emmanuel Macron was taking part in a cocaine party with fellow world leaders have been blown apart by the French president's office.
The X account of the Élysée Palace, the official residence of the French leader, was forced to issue a formal statement strongly denying wild claims that Macron tried to discreetly remove a bag of cocaine from view while traveling on a night train to Ukraine.
Videos and images widely shared on social media showed Macron sitting at a table with Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
While conspiracy theorists claimed the French president quickly removed a bag of white powder from the table, the Élysée insisted it was nothing more than a tissue.
'When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs,' the Élysée account wrote. 'This fake news is being spread by France's enemies, both abroad and at home. We must remain vigilant against manipulation.'
The post also featured two photos—one a close-up of the tissue, the other showing Macron warmly greeting Starmer and Merz—with captions reading 'this is a tissue for blowing your nose' and 'this is European unity to build peace.'
Infowars host Alex Jones, arguably the most well-known conspiracy theorist in the world, was among those who shared the video of Macron taking the tissue off the table, claiming it showed a 'DEVELOPING SCANDAL.'
'Macron, Starmer, and Merz caught on video on their return from Kiev. A bag of white powder on the table. Macron quickly pockets it, Merz hides the spoon. No explanation given,' Jones wrote to his 4.4 million X followers on Sunday.
Jones also repeated an unsubstantiated claim often pushed by Russian propagandists that Volodymyr Zelensky is a 'cocaine enthusiast,' a tactic used to try to discredit the Ukrainian president amid Russia's invasion.
French newspaper Libération described the claims that the three world leaders were using cocaine on the train as 'absurd,' adding that those fueling the theories were sharing 'posts favorable to Vladimir Putin.'
Macron, Starmer, Merz, and Polish Premier Donald Tusk met with Zelensky in Kyiv on Saturday to urge Russia to begin a 30-day ceasefire in its war on Ukraine.
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