Macron's wife targeted by fake news over gender
Macron's wife targeted by fake news over gender
PARIS (AFP) - A disinformation campaign has in the last days targeted the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron falsely claiming she was a born a man, adding to fears over internet fake news less than four months ahead of presidential elections.
Brigitte Macron, 68, intends to file a legal complaint to sue over the disinformation. "She has decided to start procedures, it s in process," her lawyer Jean Ennochi told AFP, without giving further details.
The false claim had grown in momentum on social media over the last days, mixing strong opposition to the centrist Macron with extreme right ideology and transphobia.
Fake news of transphobic nature targeting prominent political figures has been very rare in France until now, but is not a new phenomenon globally.
Women targeted in the past have included former US First Lady Michelle Obama, US Vice President Kamala Harris and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
But the eruption of attacks against Brigitte Macron, come as her husband, who celebrated his 44th birthday on Tuesday, prepares to fight what is expected to be a tense battle to seek re-election in April.
Macron s relationship with his wife 24 years his senior as always attracted fierce media interest in France and outside. They first met when she led a drama class while he was still a teenage schoolboy.
This is not the first time that the Macron couple have been targeted by rumours targeting gender or sexual orientation. During the 2017 campaign when he won office, Emmanuel Macron had to deny claims about his alleged homosexuality.
For several months, messages have multiplied on social networks claiming that Brigitte Macron, born as Brigitte Trogneux, is a transgender woman whose first name at birth was Jean-Michel.
The false claims allege that a vast plot has been engineered to hide this change in civil status and, taking the conspiracy theory a step further, say accusations of paedophilia have been covered up.
