Brazil tourism ambassador threatens to choke Macron, calls his wife Brigette a 'dragon' amid Amazon fire feud
Brazil's tourism ambassador and former MMA fighter, Renzo Gracie, threatened to choke French President Emmanuel Macron while calling his wife, Brigette Macron, a "dragon" in a video posted on Twitter.
Gracie posted the clip amid increasing tensions between the French and Brazilian governments after Macron slammed Brazil's reaction to the devastating wildfires in the Amazon rainforest. The 52-year-old former MMA fighter, in the clip, can be heard calling Macron a "clown" who is "talking rubbish" before he makes threats of violence against the French president, saying: "The only fire going on is the fire inside Brazilian hearts and our president's heart, you clown. Come over here you'll be caught by the neck, that chicken neck. You don't fool me."
Gracie was reportedly appointed to public office by the Brazilian far-right President Jair Bolsonaro last month. Ever since taking office, Gracie has been slammed for his homophobic comments and making slurs towards the French First Lady.
"This gang of clowns only open their mouths to speak ill of our country," Gracie told Brazilian news outlet UOL. "Of course a bunch of people will be surprised, they'll think I called him chicken because I was questioning his manhood, but I've seen plenty of gay men who are more manly than this imbecile." He added that tourism in Brazil was on the decline because of a "gang of clowns" making reports of "false fires."
Later when he was asked about the alleged derogatory comments he made about Brigitte, Fracie said: "I'll ask you a question, is his wife pretty or ugly? Would you do her? If you criticise our country, get ready to listen to a load of bulls***, and also about your relatives. The fact that he is sleeping with the dragon does not make him a fire expert. She’s ugly, my brother,” he said.
Gracie's outburst came nearly a week after Macron slammed the Brazilian president for "extraordinarily disrespectful comments" about his wife. Bolsonaro had reportedly appeared to mock the French first lady's appearance.
The incident came to light after a Bolsonaro supporter posted a meme on Facebook mocking the 66-year-old French first lady's looks. The meme unfavorably compared her to that of the 37-year-old Brazilian first lady Michelle Bolsonaro. The meme's caption read: "Now you understand why Macron is persecuting Bolsonaro?"
Shortly after the meme was posted, the Brazilian leader chimed in from his official account and wrote of the French president: "Do not humiliate the guy, hahaha."
The distasteful comment from the Brazilian president came in the wake of Macron slamming Bolsonaro's inaction amid the ongoing Amazon rainforest fires, which are spreading at a rapid rate. Macron, while tweeting about the blazes, had written: "Our house is literally on fire," as he called it a crisis and criticized Brazil’s management of it.