:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(748x230:750x232)/Emmanuel-Macron-attends-a-press-conference-during-meeting-of-Coalition-of-the-willing-051225-6eb3c9395bbf4f15bf6b6be285baa040.jpg?w=1920&resize=1920,1267&ssl=1 "French President Emmanuel Macron Blasts ‘Fake’ Cocaine Bag Rumor")
French President Emmanuel Macron is shutting down a conspiracy principle that he snuck a bag of cocaine with him when he and different world leaders boarded a prepare to Kyiv, Ukraine.
The overseas president, 47, was compelled to situation an announcement after he was proven in a video pushing apart a small white object — which his workplace later recognized as a tissue — whereas sitting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday, Could 10, per Politico.
Russian social media customers had been among the many voices amplifying murmurs that the white object was cocaine, and Reuters reviews that Russian overseas ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova shared the footage as properly, saying that “it’s like a joke: a Frenchman, an Englishman, and a German acquired on a prepare – and did a line.”
The cocaine bag rumor was additionally pushed in the USA by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who alleged on X that the group not solely left white powder on the desk, however had a “spoon” with them to manage the drug, including that the leaders appeared “fully cracked out.”
Kay Nietfeld/image alliance through Getty
In a Could 11 put up on X, the official account of Élysée Palace — the French equal to the White Home — accused France’s “enemies” of spreading the false cocaine rumor, which they debunked by sharing a zoomed-in picture that clearly confirmed a used tissue beside the president’s glass.
“When European unity turns into inconvenient, disinformation goes as far as to make a easy tissue appear to be medication,” the Élysee’s put up learn. “This pretend information is being unfold by France’s enemies, each overseas and at house. We should stay vigilant towards manipulation.”
The French authorities captioned a photograph of the tissue: “This can be a tissue. For blowing your nostril.”
The Heart for Countering Disinformation, a department of the Nationwide Safety and Protection Council of Ukraine, equally decried the rumor.
“Russian propaganda has as soon as once more embarrassed itself, making an attempt to discredit European leaders,” the Heart wrote in a Could 12 put up on X. “State-run Russian media extensively unfold an absurd pretend accusing Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer, and Friedrich Merz of ‘drug use’ on a prepare to Kyiv.”
French publication Le Monde reported that the “spoon” some conspiracy theorists claimed to see within the footage was truly Merz’s pen.
The outlet additionally notes that Macron was beforehand focused with a false cocaine rumor in 2023 with “edited footage” of moments through which he’d touched his nostril whereas out in public.
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Macron was touring to Kyiv for a gathering with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and different European leaders with the goal of securing a 30-day Russian ceasefire. The group of leaders — which included Macron, Starmer, Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk — promised to “ratchet up strain on Russia’s warfare machine,” in line with the BBC.
PEOPLE contacted the Élysée Palace for added remark.
