Karol Nawrocki in Lublin: please, don't look at me as just a guy from the gym. However, I am a doctor of science

On Saturday, the candidate of Law and Justice for president and president of the Institute of National Remembrance, Karol Nawrocki, met with the inhabitants of Lublin. He said that “for a long part of his public life he was considered, as some people said maliciously, a historical bore.” According to him, from the perspective of public life, what he did in the past and currently was not noticed.

– We often have to fight to get to know ourselves in the reflection of public life. Because this historical bore, as the malicious people said, which followed me throughout my life, resulted from the fact that I was dealing with issues that were very important for our history, for our identity, for us as a national community – he continued. He recalled that this included reading hundreds of books. – So this is not a typical public model of a boy who can go to the gym and bench press serious weights – he said.

He answered questions on loose topics. One of them concerned how much weight he could press on a flat bench. – My record is 152.5 kilograms. But I have to say something, I weighed 110-108 kilograms then, now I weigh 93-94 kilograms. So I will always press 130 kilograms, but 152.5 is my record – he said.

– Just please, don't look at me as – even though I am – a boy from the gym. However, I am a doctor of humanities, I have been the president of the Institute of National Remembrance for three years, I have worked for the Polish state for many years, representing our historical sensitivity all over the world, from New Zealand to the United States. I have been dealing with very serious topics all my life, and just last week I was able to show what I really am – in a sports and social sense – he added.

There was also a question about what his favorite sport is. – This is boxing and football for sure. Because she has been with me all my life. I was already playing when I was seven, he recalled.

He noted that he “likes both disciplines very much.” – Unfortunately, I can't box very well now. I train four times a week, despite my tight schedule, sometimes at night, sometimes at 6 a.m., but I can't really box because my opponent is so pretty, so beautiful, so I can't do much, he continued. He did not specify which opponent he was talking about.

Nawrocki admitted that he “would like to be the first to actually visit all counties” as a presidential candidate during a tour of Poland. – In which districts I will be and on what date – I cannot answer that – he said.

– I have traveled around Poland a lot so far, only with slightly different topics – he said. As he noted, “these were not media events, they were not events broadcast on television.” He said that his colleagues “calculated that during three years as president of the Institute of National Remembrance, I circled the globe three times.” – In Poland, to be clear, not in the world. In Poland, I circled the globe three times, visiting many counties and communes, speaking of course about historical matters, and not yet about social or political matters, he added.

When asked about his assessment of Saturday's Civic Coalition convention in Gliwice, Nawrocki replied that he watched it in the car on the way to Lublin. He described the beginning of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's speech as a “stand up”. In turn, he called KO's candidate for president, Rafał Trzaskowski, “Rafał from the town hall”.

– When 'Rafał z Ratusz' came out, I started looking for my rosary in my pocket. I simply didn't recognize the president of the capital. The same guy who ordered crosses to be removed from Warsaw offices says he will defend tradition. Something is wrong here, said the head of the Institute of National Remembrance.