On June 8, French President Emmanuel Macron was slapped in his face by a man in a crowd during a visit to a small town in southeastern France. On the eve of the elections, he went to the French regions to speak with people.
The video showing the incident was immediately spread on social media.
The footage showed Emmanuel Macron walking up to a metal fence and clasping the arm of a man, greeting onlookers in the village of Tain-l’Hermitage, in the Drôme region of France.
The man slapped the President yelling “Montjoie Saint Denis!” that refers to the battle-cry in the Kingdom of France.
Safeguards intervened, pulling the president away and tackling the man.
“The overwhelming majority of French people are interested in the basic issues. In principle, I will be intractable, but let’s not let isolated facts, ultraviolent individuals, as there are also always some in the demonstrations, take possession of the public debate: they do not deserve it.” – Emmanuel Macron later commented on the incident.
Two men were arrested. Due to the aggravating circumstance linked to the victim’s personality, they risk 3 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros.
This is not the first such ‘attack’ on French President. In 2011, another French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, was insulted in a similar manner.
