– What is PiS doing? He is racist and uses Poles' legitimate fear of illegal immigration (…) for political propaganda – said Marcin Bosacki (KO) in “Fakty po Faktach”. He referred to photos of people with dark skin published by opposition politicians, which were perceived as fueling fear of migrants. – If you write something untrue on the Internet, you should delete it and apologize, said Janusz Cieszyński (PiS).
MP Marcin Bosacki from the Civic Coalition i Janusz Cieszyński from Law and Justice were asked in “Fakty po Faktach” on TVN24 about the actions of PiS politicians who, on social media, reproduce photos showing people with dark skin and attack those currently in power for their migration policy. Experts from the Center for Monitoring Racist and Xenophobic Behavior believe that these are manifestations of racism, and the Prime Minister Donald Tusk – commenting on opposition entries and photos attacking anonymous people – he called it “racist propaganda”.
– Posting such photos if there is no justification – such as in the case of this situation at the border, where we know that the situation is completely different – also surprises me. And that is why I believe that such matters should be clarified immediately, because Polish society sees what is happening beyond our western border. He sees what is happening in European countries and sees that it is a real problem, he said PiS MP.
Cieszyński about photos of people with dark skin published by PiS politiciansTVN24
Bosacki, however, emphasized, speaking about the situation on our eastern border, that “there is no greater threat today than there was a year, two, three years ago.”
– What is PiS doing? (…) Racistically uses Poles' legitimate fear of illegal immigration – which must be stopped and we are doing it – for political propaganda, very disgusting – commented the KO MP. According to him, some of the photos that appeared on the profiles of PiS politicians are “obviously untrue.” – How today's photo of Mr. (Janusz) Kowalski, saying that in one of the cities of Greater Poland someone is flying with a machete, “started” – he continued, pointing out that it is a suggestion that the hero of the photo is a person who illegally crossed the border. – This is of course untrue – he noted.
This is about Kowalski's entry on the X platform, in which he posted a screenshot of an article informing that a man with a machete was running around the market square in Kępno. This entry can no longer be found on the politician's profile.
The host of the program, Katarzyna Kolenda-Zaleska, announced that she had contacted the police spokesman in Kępno. She reported that Senior Sgt. Rafał Stramowski told her that the man who was running with a machete was a native resident of Laski from the Trzcinica commune and that he was Polish.
Bosacki: What is PiS doing? He uses racist fear for political propagandaTVN24
Bosacki about the “racist nativity scene”
Bosacki, turning to Cieszyński, said that “your colleagues are making a racist nativity scene that is absolutely similar to what fascists did in the 1930s, publishing lots of caricatures and photos of Jews with long noses.” – Or what the communists did, making disgusting caricatures of capitalists and bankers – he added.
Bosacki: they are making a racist nativity sceneTVN24
The PiS MP said that his interlocutor “exaggerates in a fundamental way.”
He also said that “if there are any false photos on the Internet, no matter who uploads them, it should be denied.” – There are institutions that are responsible for fighting disinformation. Even in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he added.
To the comment that it is a member of parliament of the Republic of Poland and his colleague from the club who publishes such things, Cieszyński replied: – If it is not true, then something like this certainly should not be on the Internet. If you write something untrue on the Internet, you should delete it and apologize.
Cieszyński: if you write something untrue on the Internet, you should delete it and apologizeTVN24
Main photo source: TVN24