Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was talking to people on the street in Mexico City’s historic downtown area on Tuesday when something unexpected happened. A man who looked drunk came up behind her and touched her inappropriately during what should have been a normal public meeting.
According to the New York Post, A video of what happened started spreading fast on social media. The footage shows the man getting close to Sheinbaum like he wanted to kiss her, and he put his hands on her body. This all took place while she was out meeting regular citizens on the street, something she does often to stay in touch with people.
Even though the situation was shocking, Mexico’s president stopped the groper and kept her composure, all while it was all caught on camera. She pushed his hands away without making a big scene and turned around to look at him while keeping a tight smile on her face. You can hear her voice in the video saying in part, “Don’t worry,” before someone from the government stepped in to help.
Public access comes with real risks
What happened on Tuesday shows how dangerous it can be when Sheinbaum gets close to the public. She follows the same style as Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who was president before her and taught her a lot about politics. She tries to stay connected with regular people by jumping into crowds to take selfies and shake hands with them.
The video shows everything up close, but you cannot see her security team anywhere nearby in the shot. This makes people wonder where her protection was during all of this, but the president’s office has not said anything about it yet when reporters asked for a statement.
The way Sheinbaum handled things shows she knows how to deal with weird and uncomfortable situations when everyone is watching. Instead of getting upset or scared, she kept things calm and did not let it turn into something bigger. The Mexican leader has been dealing with different problems since she started her job, including recent trade tensions with the United States.
The fact that the man seemed drunk makes the whole thing even worse. Politicians and famous people deal with all kinds of stuff when they meet people face to face, but what this man did was way over the line and totally wrong.
The video got shared all over social media really fast, and people are talking about both what happened and how well the president handled it.
Being Mexico’s first woman president means Sheinbaum has to figure out how to stay close to people while also keeping herself safe and respected when she is out in public. The way she leads is very different from more confrontational approaches to international relations that you see in other parts of the world.
Published: Nov 5, 2025 05:00 pm