INVESTIGATION. How the French fake news about "Brigitte Macron as a transgender woman" went viral in the United States

The meeting was arranged in Milan, in front of the "De Angeli" metro station, right in the city center. Xavier Poussard is the man who started the rumor that Brigitte Macron was born a man in the United States. He initially refused to meet us, but he changed his mind. Xavier Poussard doesn't let himself be approached easily. At least not by the mainstream media.

So it's with a bit of apprehension that we wait for him under a blazing sun, hoping he'll be there. Finally, he arrives in a smart, casual outfit, shorts and a navy blue t-shirt. Why meet in Milan and not in France? Because Xavier Poussard has been living there since 2017 with his Italian wife and three children, and he no longer sets foot in France, notably because he was the subject of a report from the public prosecutor's office in 2021 for "inciting hatred based on race or religion."

An atypical career path for this thirty-year-old, the son of left-wing associate professors. A history graduate, he dreams of becoming a journalist and manages to get hired at the well-known Facts & Documents magazine in far-right circles, founded by Emmanuel Ratier, a now-deceased nationalist figure, of whom he claims to be a student. Having become the magazine's editor in 2017, he was the first to republish the false information about Brigitte Macron, presented as a transgender woman by a former yellow vest, Natacha Rey, on his Facebook account in March 2021.

Xavier Poussard adapts it in his own way and devotes a series of thirteen episodes to this fanciful theory published in Faits & documents between 2021 and 2024 in which he claims to prove that Brigitte Trogneux did indeed exist but that she disappeared when she was young and that her brother, Jean-Michel Trogneux, then became transgender and took on her identity. In an attempt to lend credibility to his approach, he published photographs of a young Brigitte and her brother, which he said he had analyzed using Chinese facial recognition software.

In 2023, Xavier Poussard crossed paths with a shady character, one Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, who wrote under the pseudonym Zoe Sagan on Twitter. With his sharp pen, he described the morals, in his eyes depraved, of the worlds of luxury, fashion, politics, and the media. All of Paris followed his account, from Marion Cotillard to Vincent Bolloré. During the summer, " he sent out virulent and provocative tweets about what he supposedly knew about this affair. And since thousands of people followed him, this rekindled this rumor ," explains Nouvel Obs journalist Emmanuelle Anizon, who met him for her book L'affaire Madame (Studiofact éditions, 2024). Xavier Poussard and Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, alias Zoe Sagan, worked hand in hand. " Their great fantasy is to succeed in getting their theory taken up by American conspiracy circles, which are much more powerful ," the journalist continues. Zoe Sagan makes no secret of this in a tweet published on August 26, 2023: " We would like to be retweeted by Elon Musk, that would open the doors to the American media for us ."

" It was a form of challenge, a joke ," Xavier Poussard replies today when asked about the subject in his Italian offices. " I noticed that the Americans had not relayed [this story]. "

At the end of 2023, the two men decided to write a press release for " Trumpist podcasters and the press office of the Trump Organization [the conglomerate belonging to the Trump family]," Xavier Poussard confirmed to us. This press release, he says, specifies that " two women accuse Brigitte Macron of being born Jean-Michel Trogneux. " Mastering the art of teasing, Xavier Poussard adds that he has recovered photos of Brigitte Macron and her brother, and that according to him, " facial recognition gives a surprising result ."

He also refers to the classified file on Emmanuel Macron that was allegedly found by the FBI during a search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, possibly with intimate details, as revealed by the American magazine Rolling Stone in August 2022. Xavier Poussard adds to the subject by writing in his press release: " If President Donald Trump's team wants to help us reveal the true face of Emmanuel Macron by sharing useful information with us... " He assures that he has received no feedback. Questioned by the American channel CNN in September 2022, the French president replied that he had no information on the files seized from Donald Trump by the FBI, with this comment: " I try to become a little less paranoid every day ."

Paradox: it is a statement by Emmanuel Macron himself that will contribute to rekindling the rumor mill around his wife in the United States. On March 8, 2024, on the occasion of International Women's Day, TF1 journalist Paul Larrouturou asked the head of state about the worst thing he had experienced in politics. Emmanuel Macron replied, " Fake news and scenarios created with people who end up believing them and which, in fact, shake you up, including in your private life ."

The President's very first reaction to the rumor about his wife, reported in a dispatch from Agence France Presse, did not escape the attention of ultraconservative American influencer Candace Owens. " She's a relatively atypical profile in the MAGA [Make America Great Again, Donald Trump's slogan during his first presidential campaign] galaxy ," explains Maxime Dafaure, a doctoral student at Gustave Eiffel University in Paris, who specializes in the use of social media by the American far right. " She is a young, 35-year-old black woman, far from representing the core Trumpist electorate as one might imagine it. Around 2016-2017, she began publishing pro-Trump content where she expressed her opposition to feminism or movements like Black Lives Matter. " Candace Owens is very present on online networks where she has " nearly 6 million subscribers on X, more than 4 million subscribers on YouTube, whose videos have accumulated more than 700 million views ."

Three days after Emmanuel Macron's statement, the influencer seized on the rumor, which she described in a video as " potentially the biggest political scandal in the history of humanity. " She quickly identified the people spreading it on Twitter in France, contacted Xavier Poussard, and then relayed her theory in several videos.

A particular event, thousands of kilometers from the United States, will revive Candace Owens' activism. It's the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games on July 26, 2024. Not far from the Eiffel Tower, a drag queen fashion show and singer Philippe Katerine, performing almost naked with his body painted in glittery blue, like Dionysus, will spark a heated controversy.

Some, like MEP Marion Maréchal (ex-Reconquête), are offended by this painting, which they interpret as a mockery of Jesus' last meal with his apostles, the Last Supper. Even Donald Trump declares it " a disgrace ." Candace Owens, for her part, castigates " the infamous 2024 Summer Olympics where the whole world saw drag queens carry the Olympic flame and perform the opening ceremony ," calling the " Last Supper " sequence " satanic and contrary to the New Testament ." It should be noted that the influencer recently converted to Catholicism, and that in July 2024, she has just returned from the great traditionalist pilgrimage to Chartres where the Latin mass is de rigueur [a rite, however, abandoned by the Second Vatican Council in 1965].

According to Xavier Poussard, this Olympic Games episode convinced Candace Owens to go even further, and not just her: " It was the trigger. I received emails from the United States from people asking me where they could get my articles in English. We then said to ourselves that we needed content for the United States. "

During the summer of 2024, the director of the French far-right newsletter Faits & documents and the American influencer are thinking about what form their collaboration could take. A few months later, the project is taking shape: it will be a series of videos for Candace Owens and a book, published in French and English, for Xavier Poussard. " From that moment on, " he explains, " we work at a fast pace. I send her the chapters as they go along, so that she can take ownership of their content. The idea was to have a book that can be read quickly and that is accessible to everyone ."

The work is done remotely, with two meetings. The first, in December 2024, in London where Candace Owens's husband, the son of an English lord, owns a property. Xavier Poussard is interviewed for an hour by the American influencer. The second meeting takes place a few weeks later, in the United States, at Candace Owens's home, " a large, typically American house " in Nashville, Tennessee, " a somewhat mythical place ," smiles Xavier Poussard, as if fascinated by the ultraconservative influencer: " The story genuinely fascinates her. She's putting her career on the line on the fact that Brigitte Macron was born a man." Candace Owens pays for her plane and accommodation expenses. "Our product is in huge demand ," adds Xavier Poussard.

On January 31, 2025, Candace Owens released the first installment of her Becoming Brigitte series. ("Becoming Brigitte"), followed by the publication of the book of the same name, by Xavier Poussard, on February 5. With this caption on the cover: " Candace Owens presents an investigation by Xavier Poussard ." Social media is going crazy. The fake news is now well established in the United States.

" Between March and May 2025, this affair reached the top 3 conspiracy theories with a billion views in French-speaking countries alone. It's absolutely colossal. We have no element of comparison for a subject that would have spread so strongly and so quickly, " says Thomas Huchon, author of the book Resisting Fake News. (First editions, 2025).

Among the people relaying Candace Owens' messages surrounding this affair, Radio France's investigative unit discovered that there was a close friend of Donald Trump, General Michael Flynn. Aged 67, he briefly served as Trump's national security advisor during his first term. "This three-star general was so close to Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign that he was considered as the Republican billionaire's running mate ," explains Maxime Dafaure, an expert on the American far-right's use of social media. His popularity subsequently plummeted, as General Michael Flynn was indicted in 2016 for lying to the FBI about dealings with Russians. He was pardoned by Donald Trump before leaving the White House in 2020.

On January 11, 2025, in a message full of innuendos, the general responded on X to Candace Owens who claimed to be receiving pressure from the Macron couple: " This is so bizarre. You would think that Macron and his ??? would only have to present evidence for this matter to be settled. "

General Flynn is no stranger to conspiracy theories. " He pledged allegiance to the QAnon oath by filming himself in his backyard and saying he supported the cause ," says Dusan Bozalka, a doctoral student specializing in the virality of American conspiracy theories on social media. "The fact that he continues to spread conspiracy theories is significant because Trumpism feeds heavily on that. "

The general also organized support parties for Donald Trump in preparation for the last presidential campaign. Proof of his closeness to General Flynn is this astonishing sequence, on May 13, 2023, during a rally in Florida. Michael Flynn calls Donald Trump on the phone, then puts his cell phone on speakerphone in front of the microphone so the crowd can hear him. On the other end of the line, Donald Trump showers him with praise: " General Flynn, he's a hell of a guy. He's taken attacks like no one else could. We love him. He's a leader. " And Trump continues: " You have to stay in shape, because we're going to bring you back ." No one knows if Donald Trump is seriously considering this possibility at the time. But on February 18, 2025, during the "Celebrate American Exceptionalism 2025" gala organized at Mar-a-Lago by the conservative organization America's Future, the re-elected American president declared that he had offered "about ten positions " to former General Michael Flynn within his administration, in a video discovered by Radio France's investigative unit. " I think he's doing so well that he doesn't need it. But I told him, 'As soon as you want to join the team, you know, Mike, okay?' Take care. And thank you, General. "

In addition to General Flynn, ultraconservative podcasters have also relayed the rumor from France about Brigitte Macron. Tucker Carlson, the first political podcaster in the United States, a former star journalist for Fox News known for relaying numerous conspiracy theories, explained on his video channel last March that Candace Owens was telling the truth: " She's right ," he insisted. A few days later, Joe Rogan, the most listened to podcaster in the world with nearly 20 million subscribers and more than 5 billion views on his YouTube channel, also echoed Candace Owens's wild ideas. A classic ripple effect in the world of podcasters, according to researcher Dusan Bozalka: " At first, Tucker Carlson didn't want to take up this conspiracy theory concerning Brigitte Macron, but he went back on his word. It's a sign of the popularity of this theory that pushed him to produce his own content on the subject. It's this same virality that played a role with Joe Rogan ."

These MAGA figures who are helping to spread the rumor about Brigitte Macron are driven by a specific ideology, explains historian Maya Kandel, author of the book A First History of Trumpism. (Gallimard, 2025): " Transphobia is at the heart of the MAGA culture war, it's one of the points that made Trump win in 2024. There was a lot of money spent by political action committees whose raison d'être was transphobia ." An ideology that has targeted several other female heads of state and leaders, such as Michelle Obama, the former first lady. New Zealand minister, Jacinda Ardern, or more recently Kamala Harris.

The two women who posted the first video about Brigitte Macron in 2021 were convicted of defamation in 2024 and have appealed. The verdict will be handed down on July 10. That same day, nine people were summoned to appear before the Paris Criminal Court following a complaint filed by Brigitte Macron against an unknown person for cyberbullying.

According to the President's wife's entourage, there is currently no subpoena against Candace Owens in the United States. Pre-litigation discussions are underway between the American lawyer sent to the United States by the Macrons in a private capacity and the American influencer's lawyer.

To send information to Radio France's investigation unit anonymously and securely, you can click on alerter.radiofrance.fr