The Macrons became the most talked about and most read about couple in the world when Brigitte Macron’s hands shoved the face of her husband, French president Emmanuel Macron while the pair were waiting to exit a just-landed plane.
The aircraft door opens and the French president is seen standing at the threshold of the plane’s steps, waiting for France’s first lady. Suddenly, arms partially obscured by the doorway are seen shoving the face of Macron. He’s a little off balance and quickly recovers and, according to a lip reader who analyzed the famous video, Mrs. Macron says to him in French, “Stay away, you loser.”
Everyone saw the couple make their way down the stairs as they officially arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam, on the first leg of a French goodwill tour. The episode shined a light on their unusual love story.
They first met in 1993. Emmanuel was 15 and Brigitte was a 39-year-old teacher. That’s right, she was 24 years older. She was married to a banker and had three daughters, the oldest of whom was Emmanuel’s classmate. The straight-A student’s relationship with his drama and literature teacher quickly developed into a romantic affair.
The affair never cooled, and when Brigitte finally got a divorce in 2007, they married in front of her three children. He was 29 and she was 53. Seven years later, Emmanuel became finance minister in the French government. His wife left teaching and took a position as his consultant.
Three years after that, in 2017, the 39-year-old Macron was elected president of France. Soon after their spat on the plane, the French president came out strongly for a Palestinian state. “There is a moral obligation and political demand for a declaration of a Palestinian state,” Macron said at political stops when the subject of Gaza came up.
Maybe Brigitte could knock some sense into her husband’s head.
Moments like these remind us that leadership on the world stage is not only strange, but often deeply troubling – especially when it comes to Israel. Macron’s public spat drew headlines, but his open support for a Palestinian state should concern anyone who values the U.S.-Israel alliance. And while that kind of talk comes from abroad, the real threat we’re facing is much closer to home.
In New York, voters now face a serious problem in the form of Zohran Mamdani, a mayoral candidate whose anti-Israel agenda is as outspoken as it is dangerous. He’s a 33-year-old left-wing Democratic Socialist State Assembly member from Queens running for Mayor of New York. The fierce anti-Israel, Muslim mayoral candidate was weaned on hate. His father, Mahmoud, a professor at Columbia University, “has called for the elimination of the Jewish state,” according to an article by Michael Goodwin in the New York Post. Mamdani’s mother, a filmmaker known as Mira Nair, is also well-known as critical of Israel.
Flush with cash to finance his campaign and flush with hate for Israel that Zohran Mamdani could unleash as Mayor, he has the gift of gab and is cunning enough to have a spokesman named Epstein to defray his anti-Jewish stances. One of Mamdani’s numerous anti-Israel promises as Mayor of New York is to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if the Israeli Prime Minister ever comes to New York on his watch.
It’s easy to fixate on viral moments like Macron’s tarmac spat, a harmless, if embarrassing, spectacle from abroad. But while the world chuckles, real threats can take root closer to home. Zohran Mamdani’s campaign isn’t entertainment, it’s a serious danger.
If you’re eligible to vote in the Democratic New York election, just don’t vote for Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani. A mayor with his views wouldn’t just embarrass New York – he could damage it. Voters would do well to ignore the distractions and confront what truly matters at the ballot box.
