France wonders what ‘le slap’ means for Macron’s marriage – and presidency

The Socialist president François Mitterrand led a double life with a secret mistress and child, who were no secret to the country’s self-­censoring media but were hidden from the public. Nicolas Sarkozy publicly flaunted his relationship with the supermodel- turned-singer Carla Bruni, whom he later married.

However, Sarkozy’s successor – and Emmanuel Macron’s predecessor – François Hollande, discovered there is one thing worse than a personal scandal when he was caught on a scooter delivering early morning croissants to his lover, the actor Julie Gayet (now his wife), and that is ridicule. The affair could be forgiven – and was – but the appearance of the stout president, nicknamed Flanby after a wobbly pudding, on a scooter less so.

“Le slap” has landed differently. The extraordinary moment Brigitte Macron’s hands made contact with her husband Emmanuel’s face, as the doors of the presidential aircraft opened on the tarmac at Hanoi airport a week ago, sent France into a tailspin.

“Le Slap” and “Slapgate” as it became known, flew around the world within hours, leaving the president red-faced – and not just from the apparent blow. But perhaps surprisingly, it was huge news in France too, making headlines through the week. The Elysée's clumsy attempt at damage limitation had presidential aides ­initially claiming the video was Russian fake news. When it became clear the apparent spat could not be pinned on Putin, they suggested the couple were just joshing; having a friendly “squabble”, a suggestion that was clearly news to Macron, judging by his surprised look as his wife’s red-sleeved arm struck.

Part of the reason for the wall-to-wall coverage is that “slapgate” provided a rare glimpse behind the private curtain drawn across a relationship that fascinates and intrigues the French. When they met, Macron was a 15-year-old schoolboy and Brigitte Auzière his teacher, aged 39, and married with three children. Some media analysts also believe the incident raised questions over the behind-the-scenes power dynamic.

“On one hand, perhaps Brigitte is the only one who can slap Macron down,” said Alexis Poulin, a political analyst and co-founder of media site Le Monde Moderne. “On the other, it raises the question of what political influence she has. We are not party to their private lives, but when it concerns the image of France we have a right to know.”

Writing in Philosophie magazine, Élodie Mielczareck, who studies the science of verbal and ­nonverbal communication, said it was “not enough to say we don’t care”. In a digital age the meaning of the video was determined not by what it contained, but how it was interpreted, she wrote.

‘“Slapgate’ illustrates a tension between visible gestures and vacillating official discourse, where the contradictions between body and speech produce a dissonance. Whether this ‘slap’ is in fact affectionate ‘horseplay’, a ‘squabble’, a gesture of domination, a demonstration of discontent, evidence of a disagreement in the couple, a marital habit or a violation of mutual respect, it will always remain difficult to know.”

Poulin said Macron should not have dignified what was a minor domestic altercation with a rambling explanation that left him looking ridiculous. “He is the president of the republic and he not only lowered himself to answer questions but tied himself in knots trying to do so. He should have adopted the [late] queen’s motto ‘never complain, never explain’,” he said. “But what is dramatic is that he appears ridiculous. People ask how can he be taken seriously when representing France in the world?”