On June 11, 2024, when the three-day NATO summit in Washington D. C. As it came to an end, a symbol of First Lady Jill Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron who appeared to be holding hands as they posed for a photograph went viral.
On Reddit, one post has garnered over 17,000 upvotes and 2,400 comments as of this writing. Many of the comments beneath the post implied, usually jokingly, that some sort of romantic handkerchief was being undone.
(The Telegraph/Reddit)
The photo is indeed authentic, it has not been retouched or digitally altered.
It is available from Getty Images, credited to Bloomberg and with the following title:
President Biden and First Lady Welcome NATO Allies and Partners to the White House
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, from left, US President Joe Biden, first child Jill Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, a rite of arrival to the South Portico of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, Wednesday, July 10, 2024. NATO leaders, gathering for a three-day summit in Washington, will send five long-range air defense systems to Ukraine, after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked for more help following the intensification of Russian measures against his country. . Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Telegraph also published an article about the photograph. “The French president is known for his warm statements with world leaders,” reads the article’s subtitle.
“Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty. . . Getty Images, July 11, 2024, https://www. gettyimages. com/detail/news-photo/jens-stoltenberg-secretary-general-of-the- North Atlantic News Photo/2160899113.
Personal, our stranger. “Macron and Jill Biden shake hands before NATO summit”. The Telegraph, 11 July 2024. www. telegraph. co. uk, https://www. telegraph. co. uk/world-news/2024/07/11/macron-biden-jill-joe-nato/.
Taija PerryCook is a Seattle-based journalist who has previously worked for the news site PNW Crosscut and the Jordan Times in Amman.