Donald Trump has been heavily criticised after passing comment on the physical appearance of France’s first lady during his first state visit to the country.
Standing in the marbled hall of the the Hôtel national des Invalides in Paris on Thursday, Trump was filmed looking Brigitte Macron, the wife of the French president, admiringly up and down.
“You’re in such good shape,” the US president told her. He then turned to her husband, newly elected French president Emmanuel Macron, who was standing beside him, and repeated: “She’s in such good physical shape.”
Looking back to the first lady of France, Trump nodded approvingly once more and added: “Beautiful.” Her response was unclear, but she appeared to take Trump’s wife, Melania, by the arm and step slightly backwards.
The comments came after a tour of the Hôtel des Invalides, home to the tombs of Napoleon Bonaparte and other French military heroes, by the two couples, and was caught on live video posted to the French presidency’s Facebook page.
It is not the first time Trump has been criticised for making remarks about women’s physical appearance, including the looks of former presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina, comedian Rosie O’Donnell, media figure Ariana Huffington and models Kim Kardashian and Heidi Klum.
He recently attacked the MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski on Twitter, calling her “low I.Q. Crazy Mika” and saying she was “bleeding badly from a facelift” at a gathering at his Florida resort around New Year’s Eve.
Last month Trump also drew flak when he interrupted a telephone call in the Oval office with the prime minister of Ireland, Leo Varadkar, to comment on the looks of the Washington correspondent of Ireland’s national broadcaster.
“And where are you from?” the president asked Caitriona Perry. “Go ahead. Come here, come here. Where are you from? We have all of this beautiful Irish press.” He then told Varadkar: “She has a nice smile on her face so I bet she treats you well.”
Video of the bizarre moment when President @realDonaldTrump called me over during his call with Taoiseach @campaignforLeo Varadkar. @rtenews pic.twitter.com/TMl2SFQaji
— Caitriona Perry (@CaitrionaPerry) June 27, 2017
Twitter reacted swiftly to his latest indiscretion, with many users denouncing the comments as sexist. A freelance video producer and writer on feminist and gender issues, Alex Berg, tweeted that Trump’s observations were “creepy and over the line” between compliment and sexual harassment.
The comment is like catcalling — never about beauty, it's about power. It's a reminder that #Trump and men have power over our bodies. 3/
— Alex Berg (@AlexfromPhilly) July 13, 2017
Jen Siebel Newsom, a documentary maker and actress, (@JenSiebelNewsom) said on Twitter: “Mr. Trump - Women do not want to hear unsolicited remarks on what you think of their bodies. Its gross, and deeply inappropriate.”
It's even weirder when he turns to Macron right after saying it to her just to reiterate "She's in such good physical shape" https://t.co/O2oQ2cpLNK
— Amir Nasr (@amir_anasr) July 13, 2017
Trump is 71, and Brigitte Macron 64. The French president is 39, meaning there is a similar age gap the couple to that between the US president and Melania, who is 47.
The foursome dined together later on Thursday evening at the Eiffel Tower and on Friday morning attended the annual Bastille Day parade, this year commemorating the 100th anniversary of the American entry into World War I.