Conservative French presidential hopeful Francois Fillon was hit in the head with flour while on the campaign trail in northeastern France on Thursday.
Fillon was among the crowd at a rally in Strasbourg when someone dumped the flour onto his head. Once the front-runner in the election, Fillon’s campaign has tanked since he was charged on Mar. 14 with misusing public funds by allegedly paying his wife and two of his children for parliamentary jobs they did not do.
His refusal to drop out of the race since then has provoked widespread ire. Someone wearing a “students with Fillon” shirt reportedly shouted “Lobbyist!” at him before dousing the candidate with the white powder, according to Express.
“I hope at least the flour was French,” Fillon said after the incident, Express reports.
[Express]
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Write to Julia Zorthian at julia.zorthian@time.com