Message to Putin?: Macron flexes his muscles

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Is it already an election campaign – or is it a message to Putin? Emmanuel Macron (46) shows off his muscles: the French president punches a punching bag with gritted teeth, his biceps tense.

His personal photographer Soazig de la Moissionnière took the aesthetic photos and published them on her Instagram channel. Shortly after its release, the slogan ‘Rocky’ – likely a reference to Sylvester Stallone’s cult films – trended on social media.

Not everyone is happy with the photos

Some doubt the authenticity of the images, comparing Macron’s upper arms to old images and making assumptions about the use of Photoshop. Other commentators are enthusiastic about Macron’s photos. But not all.

French politician Sandrine Rousseau writes disparagingly about Macron’s images: “These virilistic (“masculinized”) codes used to the point of overdose. What a misery of politics. What a defeat for progressivism. And how bad is this political communication?”

Could Macron have deliberately launched the images to symbolically capture his fighter character – or to show Putin that he will not back down? Macron attracted attention in recent weeks with statements about the war in Ukraine: The French president did not want to rule out that Paris would send ground troops to Ukraine.

This in turn caused a row with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (65), who publicly contradicted him: “To put it bluntly: as German Chancellor I will not send soldiers from our Bundeswehr to Ukraine.”

Source: Blick