‘Toxic Masculinity’: French President Emmanuel Macron chugs beer with rugby team, sparks row
French President Emmanuel Macron has landed in trouble after a video of him drinking beer with Toulouse’s rugby players surfaced online. A video on French TV channels and online showed the president being handed a bottle of Corona in the Toulouse changing room after the end of the game at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday. Macron watched the game from the VIP enclosure.
The video then shows the 45-year-old gulping down the beer in 17 seconds amid cheers from Toulouse coaching staff and players after their victory over La Rochelle in the French Top 14 final.
🇫🇷 FLASH | Emmanuel #Macron s'est envoyé une Corona cul-sec dans le vestiaire de Toulouse après sa victoire en Top 14.pic.twitter.com/zQKihXEIEH
— Cerfia (@CerfiaFR) June 18, 2023
The video has sparked a political row about binge drinking and accusations of “toxic masculinity”.
After the video went viral, Sandrine Rousseau, an MP for the Greens party, tweeted, “Toxic masculinity in political leadership in one image.”
“A president who is sharing in the joy of 23 players and taking part in their traditions. That’s all,” replied ruling party MP Jean-Rene Cazeneuve in her response.
La masculinité toxique dans le leadership politique en une image. https://t.co/jI6gNWksO5
— Sandrine Rousseau (@sandrousseau) June 18, 2023
When Macron was filmed having a beer in Kinshasa in March, during the French pensions crisis, he was accused of being cut off from ordinary concerns back home, The Guardian reported.
Emmanuel Macron is a keen sports fan and well known for his locker-room visits to French sports teams.
Like most French presidents, he is more frequently seen with wine in his hand, and he once claimed he drank a glass at lunch and another in the evening. He has also defended the wine and alcohol lobby by blocking attempts by public health authorities to promote ‘Dry January’, a report said.
