Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been described as "extraordinarily rude" after he appeared to mock the French first lady's looks.

A Bolsonaro supporter posted a Facebook meme mocking the appearance of Brigitte Macron, 66, and comparing her unfavourably with Brazil's first lady Michelle Bolsonaro, 37, along with the caption: "Now you understand why Macron is persecuting Bolsonaro?"

Mr Bolsonaro's official account responded: "Do not humiliate the guy, hahaha."

Image: Mr Bolsonaro replied to the meme mocking the appearance of Brigitte Macron

Asked about the comment at the G7 summit in Biarritz, Mr Macron, 41, said it was "extremely disrespectful" and "sad".

"It's sad, it's sad first of all for him and for Brazilians," he said. "Brazilian women are probably feeling ashamed of their president.


Image: Mr Macron said Mr Bolsonaro was being 'extremely disrespectful'

"Since I have a lot of esteem and respect for the people of Brazil, I hope they will very soon have a president who is up to the job."

Asked by AFP news agency whether the response came from Mr Bolsonaro himself, a spokesman for Brazil's presidential palace refused to comment.

The growing tension comes after the French president called for the emergency G7 talks following an international outcry over Brazil's response to spiralling wildfires in the Amazon rainforest.

Reacting to Mr Macron piling pressure on Brazil to do more, Mr Bolsonaro, 64, accused his French counterpart of having a "colonialist mentality".

Image: A spokesman for Brazil's presidential palace refused to comment on the controversy

The fires, which have been blamed on deforestation, have led to several European nations asking questions of the Brazilian leader, who has previously aired scepticism over climate change.

On Monday, Mr Bolsonaro hit back at Mr Macron's plan for an international alliance to protect the Amazon, tweeting that it would treat Brazil like a "colony".

Mr Macron had ruffled feathers in the run up to the G7 summit when he tweeted a photo of the burning forest with the words: "Our house is burning. Literally."

He also accused the Brazilian leader of lying to him about his commitments to fighting climate change.

Since becoming president in January, Mr Bolsonaro has pushed back against environmental regulations and announced intentions to develop the Amazon region, where deforestation by loggers has surged.

However, Brazil's environment minister Ricardo Salles, who has also called for more development and was booed as he took the stage at a UN workshop on climate change, said the issue needed to be addressed last week.