Politicians from Poland’s ruling conservative party were forced to bus in supporters to Warsaw so that visiting US President was greeted with cheers instead of boos.
Trump is hugely unpopular in Europe, with 85 percent of Europeans surveyed saying they have no confidence in the US leader. Prior to today, Trump had avoided any public speeches in Europe, as it is widely expected his presence would met with large-scale protests from those unhappy about his nationalistic, misogynistic, and anti-science message.
In order to avoid the site of a US president being booed by large crowds, all members of the country’s ruling Law and Justice Party were told to bring 50 supporters each to Warsaw for his speech. These scenes are reminiscent of Poland’s communist past, where visiting dignitaries form Moscow were met with similarly artificial crowds.
Trump has found a friend in Poland’s right-wing President Andrzej Duda, who share’s the US president’s nationalistic anti-immigrant message and authoritarian tendencies.
