Emmanuel Macron Gets Slapped During Walkabout In Southern France; Act Caught On Camera

A bystander slapped French President Emmanuel Macron across the face during a trip to southeast France on June 8 on the second stop of a nation-wide tour. Visuals showed Macron approach a barrier to greet a man who, instead of shaking hands, slapped the 43-year-old across the face. Macron's bodyguards quickly intervened and two people were arrested afterwards, AFP reported. The incident in the village of Tain-l'Hermitage in the Drome region represents a serious security breach. The act also overshadows the start of Macron's tour which he said was designed to "take the country's pulse”. The centrist is widely expected to seek re-election in next year's presidential elections & polls show him with a narrow lead over far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Around a dozen stops had been planned over the next two months, with Macron keen to meet voters in person after more than a year of crisis management linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. In July last year, Macron & his wife Brigitte were verbally abused by a group of protesters while taking an impromptu walk through the Tuileries gardens in central Paris. "Politics can never be violence, verbal aggression, much less physical aggression," Prime Minister Jean Castex told parliament after the latest incident. Watch the video to know more.