Video shows a man shouting “Down with Macronia” before audibly slapping the president alongside his left cheek.
Two people have reportedly been arrested after French President Emmanuel Macron was slapped in the face while greeting a crowd of people in the southeast of France on Tuesday.
Video posted to Twitter shows Macron walking up to people standing behind a barricade and taking a man’s arm. The man shouted “Down with Macronia” (“A bas la Macronie”), according to local media, before audibly slapping the president alongside his left cheek.
The man is then seen swarmed by officers as Macron is briefly rushed away. Macron appeared to return to the crowd seconds later. Macron’s office confirmed the video to The Associated Press.
The arrests of two people were reported by French news station BFM TV and RMC radio.
The incident took place while Macron was visiting restaurateurs and students in the Drôme region to discuss how life is returning to normal after COVID-19, according to France 24 news.
Macron has not commented yet on the incident and continued his visit.
Speaking at the National Assembly, Prime Minister Jean Castex said “through the head of state, that’s democracy that has been targeted,” in comments prompting loud applauds from lawmakers from all ranks, standing up in a show of support.
“Democracy is about debate, dialogue, confrontation of ideas, expression of legitimate disagreements, of course, but in no case it can be violence, verbal assault and even less physical assault,” Castex said.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen firmly condemned on Twitter “the intolerable physical aggression targeting the president of the Republic.”
Visibly fuming, she said later that while Macron is her top political adversary, the assault was “deeply, deeply reprehensible.”
Less than one year before France’s next presidential election and as the country is gradually reopening its pandemic-hit economy, Macron last week started a political “tour de France,” seeking to visit French regions in the coming months to “feel the pulse of the country.”
Macron has said in an interview he wanted to engage with people in a mass consultation with the French public aimed at “turning the page” of the pandemic — and preparing his possible campaign for a second term.
The attack follows mounting concerns in France about violence targeting elected officials, particularly after the often-violent “yellow vest” economic protest movement that repeatedly clashed with riot officers in 2019.
Village mayors and lawmakers have been among those targeted by physical assaults, death threats and harassment.
But France’s well-protected head of state has been spared until now, which compounded the shockwaves that rippled through French politics in the wake of the attack.
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