French President Emmanuel Macron has responded to claims that he and other European leaders were using drugs while on a train to Ukraine. A video circulated on social media on Sunday after some users with ties to Russia said it showed the French president, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer trying to hide a white object that was actually a bag of cocaine.
The three men were traveling to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the video showed the leaders greeting one another. Users on the Telegram social messaging app first suggested that a white object was cocaine, while Merz could be seen palming a “snuff spoon.” The claims quickly gained traction after Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova posted on the official Telegram channel that the trio “got high” during the trip.
“Apparently, so much so that they forgot to remove their instruments (bag and spoon) before the journalists arrived,” Zakharova claimed.
The Democratically Elected Leaders Responded
The three NATO nation leaders accused their enemies of trying to undermine European unity, notably in advance of their arrival in Ukraine, which comes ahead of pending peace talks. French officials confirmed it was a used tissue that Macron picked up, while Merz was reported to have placed his hands over a coffee stirrer.
“When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs,” Macron’s office said in a statement. “This fake news is being spread by France’s enemies, both abroad and at home. We must remain vigilant against manipulation.”
Prime Minister Starmer’s office also said in a statement, “We obviously don’t know who’s behind that particular misinformation. But we’ve obviously seen attempts like this in the past, particularly emanating from the Russian state, as it increasingly becomes more desperate in relation to the war in Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation issued a similar sentiment, labeling Russia’s social media posts alleging cocaine use on the train to Ukraine to be a “propaganda trick” that was meant to create a controversy.
“Adding to the absurdity, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs joined the disinformation effort, with its official spokesperson Maria Zakharova publicly echoing the lie. This is yet another example of how Russia resorts to propaganda tricks instead of practicing diplomacy,” the Centre for Countering Disinformation warned. “If the Russian MFA is trying to blow up an international scandal over a napkin, it clearly means Moscow has run out of real arguments.”
Evidence Is Lacking, And That Doesn’t Matter
Allegations of Macron’s drug use go back nearly a decade without any evidence, although Emmanuel Pellerin, a Macron-aligned minister, stepped down after having admitted to using cocaine in the past. The French president has also faced odd conspiracies, including that his wife, Brigitte Macron, was born a man.
This latest social media firestorm is likely to die down as quickly as it erupted, yet it is a reminder of how quickly misinformation can take hold, gain traction, and spread.
“People see what they want to see. What was an embarrassed French president, hiding a snotty paper tissue, turned into an Internet tempest in a teacup,” said technology industry analyst Roger Entner of Recon Analytics.
“Social media just amplifies the voice of everyone, even the voices of the village idiots,” Entner added.
Even as many users were quick to highlight that the object was almost certainly a used tissue or napkin, doctored images then showed a “clearer” picture as “proof” that it was a bag of white powder. This serves to further highlight how misinformation can turn into full-blown disinformation.
The question of why is obvious; instead of the narrative being that the leaders of France, Germany, and the UK are traveling together to Kyiv in a sign of solidarity, it becomes a joke about a Frenchman, a German, and an Englishman doing drugs on a train!
That fact shouldn’t come as a surprise, said Dan Ariely, professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University.
“Social media allows users to tap some of our human weaknesses; the offensive, the ridiculous. When we get an opportunity to express those weaknesses, we do,” Ariely warned. “It is about those in power being absolutely horrible people and being happy in doing so. Unfortunately, it is very human.”
It is also very common for the simplest explanation to be disregarded and even purposely twisted on social media.
