• According to viral publications on social networks, the assault on the President of the Republic, slapped by a 28-year-old man during a trip to the Drôme, would not be the result of chance.

  • Some have thus wrongly accused Damien T. of being an actor, while others have seen in this sequence a means of arousing sympathy among the population.

  • In reality, these videos are not beneficial for the image of the President of the Republic. 

    20 Minutes 

    takes stock.

The episode of the slap of Emmanuel Macron, a call?

The aggression of the President of the Republic on Tuesday in the Drôme did not take long to fuel eccentric or even conspiratorial theories on social networks.

Barely hours after the famous souffle, Tristan Mendès-France, specialist in conspiracy and associated researcher at the University of Paris, thus noticed on Twitter "an inevitable Pavlovian reflex from part of the French complosphere", instantly shouting at the handling.

Inevitable Pavlovian reflex of part of the complosphere.

pic.twitter.com/7Zg6ThOmB4

- Tristan Mendès France (@tristanmf) June 8, 2021

His post, along with four screenshots showing anonymized tweets, reveals high-profile theories.

We read for example that the attacker of the president would be "an actor committed to victimize Macron who does not manage to go up the slope, despite all his efforts".

Or that the handshake of Emmanuel Macron - who grabbed the left forearm of his attacker before he slapped him - would not be natural and would prove that the sequence is a "fake".

These theories are relayed by popular conspiratorial figures on social networks.

Like the singer Francis Lalanne, who implied in a tweet that the sequence would be a diversion to better accept the health pass entered into force the next day, Wednesday.

However, nothing proves that the aggression of the president would be a staging and that he would draw any interest from this sequence. 

20 Minutes 

takes stock.

FAKE OFF

The 28-year-old Drômois who slapped Emmanuel Macron is called Damien T. Contrary to what you can read on social networks, this man is not an actor lacking a role hired by the Elysee.

Living in Saint-Vallier, a town in the north of Valence, this enthusiast of history, role-playing games and historical European martial arts lives on odd temporary jobs.

He would also have started embalming training in the past, without completing it, AFP reports.

France Info,

Le Parisien

and

Liberation

scanned Damien T.'s social networks for information.

His activity on the Internet demonstrates his interest in figures of the online fascosphere and a certain sympathy for the citizen movement of “yellow vests”.

Tested positive for alcohol at the time of his arrest, according to France Info, Damien T. has still not made known the reasons for his action, but ensures that he was not premeditated, reports BFMTV.

Why is this slap bad for the president?

“One thing is certain: this slap is not a successful communication stunt for the President of the Republic. This is neither consistent with its image nor with its objectives, ”

Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet, expert in political communication and professor at Sciences Po Paris

, told 

20 Minutes

. "It must be understood that this sequence humiliates and desecrates the presidential function even though he is in the midst of an electoral campaign," he adds. The foreign press, to which Macron is very sensitive, did not fail to take up the information, which immediately went around the world. We have known more flattering.

Another element of analysis of this sequence: the president's walkabout was improvised, his entourage told

20 Minutes

.

The Elysee Palace, embarrassed by the incident, immediately tried to downplay the facts, arguing that "the attacker's blow did not land" and had been deflected by the president's security personnel.

“The style of Emmanuel Macron's presidency is extremely theatrical.

If he had wanted to take advantage of this slap, he would not have invited to "relativize the event" with the

released Dauphiné

, as he did after the fact, "argues Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet.

Macron slapped: another angle (source: DR) pic.twitter.com/0UbiwfMXjw

- Jean-Rémi Baudot (@jrbaudot) June 8, 2021

In addition, another video filmed shows that President Emmanuel Macron is preparing, after being beaten, to respond to Damien T.'s blow before being removed by his security team.

"These videos are already bad for the image of the president," says Moreau-Chevrolet.

They would have become frankly catastrophic if, in addition to being hit, Emmanuel Macron had been in the field ... "

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