Macron Slap

Overview

Macron Slap refers to a viral video of French President Emmanuel Macron running up to greet people in south France only to be slapped in the face by a man, followed by security grabbing the slapper. The man received four months in jail for the incident, which was the subject of memes on Twitter over the following days in early June 2021. Macron referred to the man as "ultra-violent" in an interview.

Background

On June 8th, 2021, a video of the President of France running up to greet a number of people behind a barrier while on a walkabout of southern France. Macron stands in front of a man with curly hair and a face mask, who grabs Macron's arm, shouts “Down with Macronia,” and then slaps him across the face. Macron's security quickly restrains the man. A recording of the slap began circulating on Twitter^[1] that day, later going viral (shown below).

Notable Developments

The story received widespread news coverage.^[2] Macron did an interview with French newspaper Dauphine Libere later that day where he blamed the isolated incident on "ultra-violent individuals,"^[3] and ensured readers he was doing fine after it.

The event was highly discussed on Twitter^[4][5] over the course of the following days as the hashtag "#MacronSlap" spread on the platform. Those with negative opinions of Macron shared their support for the slapper through posts and memes (examples shown below).

On that day, Twitter^[8] user @____Sha_____ posted a video compiling clips of people attacking French presidents in a similar manner (shown below).

Les français et l’amour qu’ils portent à leurs présidents 😍 pic.twitter.com/yFm9EIumwK

— S.hxv ☫ (@____Sha_____) June 8, 2021

The slapper was revealed to be 28-year-old Damien Tarel, a "medieval history enthusiast" who allegedly "subscribes to far-right YouTube channels," according to Al Jazeera.^[6] On June 10th, Tarel was sentenced to four months in jail for the slap.^[7]

Search Interest

External References