Brazilian president's 'extremely disrespectful' Facebook comment about Macron's wife
Brazilian women are probably ashamed of President Jair Bolsonaro, French President Emmanuel Macron says, hitting back after the Brazilian leader mocked Macron's wife on Facebook.
The leaders have been feuding in recent weeks, with Macron blaming Bolsonaro for fires in the Amazon and accusing him of lying about climate change policy.
Bolsonaro responded on Sunday to a Facebook post that compared the looks of his wife Michelle, 37, with Macron's 66-year-old wife Brigitte.
In its original caption, the post said, “Now you understand why Macron is persecuting Bolsonaro?”.
Bolsonaro then wrote in a comment, which was later widely criticised as sexist, “Do not humiliate the man hahahah”.
Bolsonaro was slammed on Twitter, one person saying he felt “inadequate and incompetent so had to resort to idiotic and sexist remarks”.
“Question: Which of the two leaders (Macron v Bolsonaro) would you rather escort you to a ball? My daughter says EM of France with not the slightest hesitation,” they added.
“You are responsible for these travesties and tragedies. Also stop giving credit to a user who demoralises women by focusing on looks. It’s sexist and your wife should be horrified by your behaviour. The world deserves better Trump Jr” another wrote.
“You should have more important things to worry about you pervert! Like putting out fires that you caused a******.”
Asked about the incident at a news conference in Biarritz where G7 leaders are gathered for a summit, Macron said on Monday the comments were "extremely disrespectful" to his wife.
“It's sad, it's sad first of all for him and for Brazilians,” Macron said. “Brazilian women are probably feeling ashamed of their president.”
“Since I have a lot of esteem and respect for the people of Brazil, I hope they will very soon have a president who is up to the job,” Macron added.
Later on Monday, Bolsonaro denounced Macron's plan for an international alliance to protect the Amazon, saying on Twitter that it would treat Brazil like a colony.
Bolsonaro was angered after Macron, in the run up to the G7 summit, tweeted a photo of the burning Amazon forest, writing: “Our house is burning. Literally.”
Macron said he had been lied to by Bolsonaro over his commitments to fighting climate change.
In July, Bolsonaro cancelled a meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, getting a haircut instead.
Since taking office in January, Bolsonaro has railed against the enforcement of environmental regulations in Brazil and announced intentions to develop the Amazon region, where deforestation of the world's largest rainforest by loggers, ranchers and speculators has surged this year.
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