Macron slams Bolsonaro for 'disrespectful comments' about his wife

French President Emmanuel Macron has 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 the 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.

"He had extremely disrespectful comments towards my wife," Macron said, while speaking yesterday at the G7 summit in Biarritz.

"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."

"I think that Brazilians, a great people, are a bit ashamed of this behavior," 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," CNN cited him as saying.

It comes after Macron angered Bolsonaro last week by calling the wildfires blazing in the Amazon rainforest an "international crisis" that should be on the agenda at the G7 summit.

Bolsonaro said the idea of G7 discussing the issue was "reminiscent of [a] colonial mindset [that was] inappropriate in the 21st century."

On Monday, Macron announced a $20 million emergency fund to help Amazon countries affected by the rainforest fires. He added that the wildfires were damaging the "most important lungs of the planet" and that France would provide military support. The French president admitted his country's interest in the Amazon was partly because it has territory in the Amazon.

Bolsonaro launched another tirade against Macron on Monday, accusing the French president of unleashing "unreasonable and gratuitous attacks on the Amazon."

The Brazilian President added that he could not accept Macron'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."