French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday described his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro as "extremely disrespectful" after the South American leader appeared to mock his wife, Brigitte Macron, in a Facebook post.
In a post on Bolsonaro's Facebook page, a user posted a meme comparing the appearance of Brazilian President's wife with that of the French First Lady and implying that Macron was jealous. "Don't humiliate the guy ... haha," read the reply from Bolsonaro's account, CNN reported.
"He had extremely disrespectful comments towards my wife," Macron said while speaking at the G7 summit at Biarritz, France, earlier today.
"What can I tell you? It's sad. It's sad for him and for Brazilians. I think that Brazilian women are probably ashamed to read that their President has done that," Macron said.
"I think that Brazilians, a great people, are a bit ashamed of this behaviour," Macron added. "As I have a lot of friendship and respect for the Brazilian people, I hope that they will quickly have a president who is up to the job," the French President exclaimed.
Bolsonaro's remarks came after Macron blasted at the Brazilian President last week by calling the wildfires blazing in the Amazon rainforest an "international crisis" that should be on the agenda at the G7 summit.
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On his part, Bolsonaro said the idea of G7 discussing the issue was "reminiscent of a colonial mindset [that was] inappropriate in the 21st century."
Earlier today, the G7 member nations pledged an aid worth USD 22 million emergency fund to fight the Amazon wildfires. Macron, during the climate change meeting, stressed that the wildfires were damaging the "most important lungs of the planet" and that France would provide military support.
Followingly, Bolsonaro launched another tirade against Macron, accusing the latter of unleashing "unreasonable and gratuitous attacks on the Amazon."
The Brazilian President added that he could not accept France's "intentions behind the idea of an 'alliance' of the G7 countries to 'save' the Amazon as if we were a colony or no man's land.