French President Emmanuel Macron has been slapped in the face during an official visit to the southeast of France.
Per BBC News, two people have been arrested after the ordeal, which saw the French president receive a firm slap from a man in the crowd.
Video footage of the incident shows Macron walking up to a barrier on a trip to Tain-l'Hermitage in Valence, France. A man then slaps Macron in the face before officers quickly move in.
As the president is slapped, the words "Down with Macron-ism" are shouted.
Seconds after the slap, Macron is pulled away by security as officers tackled the man to the ground.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex has called the ordeal an insult to democracy.
Shortly afterward, he told the National Assembly that while democracy meant to debate and legitimate disagreement, "it must never, in any case, mean violence, verbal aggression, and physical attack."
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the far-left La France Insoumise party, and member of the National Assembly, tweeted his "solidarity with the President" shortly after the incident.
Elsewhere, far-right leader, Marine Le Pen also tweeted her condemnation of the attack, writing: "While democratic debate can be bitter, it can never tolerate physical violence. I strongly condemn the intolerable physical aggression which targeted the President of the Republic."
Macron is currently on a tour of France to speak with students, restauranteurs, and small business owners about the return to normal life after the pandemic.
The president had just come out of a professional high school that trains students to work in the hospitality industry when the incident took place.
Police are now investigating the man's motives behind the slap, as his identity remains unknown at this time.
Per local news outlet BFM TV, while slapping Macron, he could also be heard shouting "Montjoie Saint-Denis," the battle cry of the French armies when the country was still a monarchy.
