Brigitte Macron covers the September issue of Elle France, giving her first interview since her husband Emmanuel Macron became president. Once again, Brigitte Macron is forced to talk about the 25-year age difference between her and her husband -- a topic the media is obsessed with. The subject is starting to feel like Hillary Clinton's missing emails.

We've told the Brigitte Macron story before on AOC. What's noteworthy this morning is the success of putting Mrs. Macron on Elle France's September 2017 cover, lensed by Mark Seliger.

Reports are that Macron's September cover issue is the best selling French Elle issue in the last 10 years. In the first week, the magazine already sold 3 million copies, including subscriptions. The monthly average for Elle France in 2017 was 313 525 copies.

Macron wears a cream-colored Dior blazer on her cover shot and faded Saint Laurent jeans. As always, her signature point-toe stilettos are part of her typically casual, never overdone look.

When asked if she prefers not to be asked about her style, Mrs. Macron quips, "Why not, if it does some good for the French fashion industry? I'm really into fashion, and there's this fascination the world over around this idea of the French woman."

In her position of a sort-of First Lady of France -- not an official title as it is in America -- Brigitte Macron's closet features peak-shouldered blazers by Alexandre Vauthier and a chorus of mod-inspired shift dresses by Nicolas Ghesquire for Louiv Vuitton.

Politico Europe just published The summer of Brigitte, as her husband the French President moves to outline her role. Instead of creating an official first lady title, which would require a change in law, the presidency will issue a “transparency charter” to outline the funds and staff devoted to her activities, Macron said. The press and some official communications will still refer to her as “la Première Dame” — a direct translation of “first lady.”

“We’ll post my meetings and my commitments on the presidency website so that the French people know exactly what I’m doing,” she added to her Elle interview.

In America Trump has mastered the art of the political dodge and how to launch a counter-narrative when the limelight is too hot for real news. Brigitte Macron acts as a similar political asset for her husband, deflecting attention when the going gets tough for Emmanuelle Macron.

When his poll numbers fell this summer, Brigitte launched a controversy around her official roll, taking the heat off her husband. An online poll organized by artist and activist Thierry Paul Valette garnered nearly 300,000 respondents saying 'no' to her having an official First Lady title. Meanwhile, Macron was busy confronting France's unusually protective labor laws with changes he will issue under a decree in September. There will be screaming in the streets, but I know how stringent those laws are -- even then the 'bad worker' is accepting an outlandish number of gifts for her patronage of people's businesses by 'our company'.