Michael Blichasz, who runs the Polish radio station, the Polish museum and Polish Center in Philadelphia he said that in conversations with his co-workers Andrzej Duda and Donald Trump discouraged them from paying a joint visit to the sanctuary in Doylestown during the unveiling of the monument dedicated to Solidarity.
– I was asked about it and I talked about it with the highest level representatives. I told them that it it is not a suitable event to organize meetings in the election campaign. If Trump wants to meet with Duda, he should do it in New York in the coming days, the activist said.
– Of course, we would like Trump to visit us here, but he could do it as a separate event, he added.
US Elections. Donald Trump's Sudden Change of Plans. Polonia Disappointed
Although Donald Trump's campaign initially announced that the Republican candidate would appear at the event at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Częstochowa, the presidential candidate's visit was canceled.
The Trump campaign limited itself to posting a post on social media, highlighting what was a “great day for Americans of Polish descent” visit of his “great friend, President Duda” w Doylestown.
Despite this, some Polish Americans who attended Sunday's ceremony were disappointed. – We would definitely like him to be herebut from what I heard he was supposed to play golf with Andrzej Gołota today – said Tadeusz from New Jersey, who came to the ceremony at the cemetery near the sanctuary wearing a cap with Trump's campaign slogan.
He wasn't alone among the Polish crowd in Doylestown. Others displayed the former president's campaign banners, hats and other gadgets.
Anna, who also came from New Jersey, admitted that although many people hate the Republican candidate, a large proportion of Poles living in America sympathize with him.
USA. The fight for votes continues. “Only one candidate supports Ukraine”
In addition to the representatives of the Polish community, a group of activists from the Ukrainian diaspora in Pennsylvania were present at the sanctuary, wishing thank the president Andrzej Duda for his support for Ukrainy.
Uliana Mazurkevich, president of the Ukrainian Human Rights Committee in Philadelphia, who is involved in the election campaign Wrong Harrisshe said that he is glad that the meeting with Trump did not take placebecause it would be a serious diplomatic clash given the political context of the meeting, at a time when voting in the elections has already started in some states.
Mazurkiewicz admitted that even among voters of Ukrainian origin in Pennsylvania – whom Democrats are trying to reach – some people are going to vote for Donald Trump.
– They say, for example, that they don't like Kamala laughing so loudly, or that they would prefer another candidate. I always tell them that they have no choice, because only one candidate supports Ukraine – said the activist.
US Elections: Pennsylvania is a Key State. The Fight for Polonia Votes Continues
Blichasz admitted, in turn, that both parties are seeking the votes of the Polish community in Pennsylvania with an unprecedented intensity. Pennsylvania is a state where the result may decide which candidate wins. According to the statistical model of the well-known election expert Adam Silver, whichever candidate wins in this state will have 90 percent chance of winning a majority of the votes in the Electoral College.
Blichasz assessed that the issue of the war in Ukraine will be of great importance to voters who still have living family ties with Poland. He suggested, however, that these voters would like the war to end as quickly as possible.
– It will be important because Poles here want America to continue to have a leading position in the world. But we spend so much money on these tanks, all these weapons for Ukraine. But no one is even starting talks to end this, to bring peace – the activist said.
Polonia in the USA. “Americans of Polish descent do not demand much”
He also noted that the vast majority of the over 700,000 Americans of Polish descent in Pennsylvania are like him. third and later generation immigrantswho are guided by other priorities, including, for example, opposition to illegal immigration from the South.
– People who call our radio program emphasize this very strongly, they are furious – said Blichasz.
– The truth is that Polish-Americans are not people who demand much or want special treatment: they just want candidates presented real proposals for solutions to their problemsso that the state fulfills its functions, so that it spends our tax money on public services and not, for example, on immigrants whom the president (Biden) independently decided to let in – he added.
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