Children, hats and... scooters. Mentzen in Trzebnica - behind the scenes of the election rally

The country is in the midst of an election campaign. We are electing the President of Poland, but apart from billboards and posters, there is no particular election campaign visible in our district. Perhaps that is why the news that Sławomir Mentzen from the Confederation will lead his rally on the Trzebnica market square on 30 April caused quite a sensation.

Sławomir Mentzen spoke in Milicz on the same day, literally an hour earlier, at 4:00 p.m. He was supposed to arrive in Trzebnica at 5:00 p.m., but it was clear that he might be a bit late, because the journey from Milicz to Trzebnica alone, provided that you drive according to the regulations, takes over 30 minutes. The description of his route also indicated that the candidate was also to have a rally in Wrocław at 6:00 p.m. It was therefore clear that he would speak briefly in Trzebnica. We went there to see what such a rally looks like from the inside. ( See also the film from this event...)

In the market square near the Kasztelańska Restaurant, campaign staff activists set up a blue tent. A small stage and steps were set up next to it. The whole thing was decorated with Polish flags and the candidate's colors.

Just before 5 p.m. people began to gather around the stage, but the surprise was that there were so many children aged around 8-15. They filled the seats in front of the stage, and as it turned out later, they were eager to chant as the hosts dictated. The whole thing looked a bit like preparations for a celebrity visit. And indeed, for many young people, mainly children, Mentzen is known for the TikTok app, where the campaign staff posts a lot of videos. Even before the start, they also started handing out flags and caps with the candidate's logo to the kids.

The residents also slowly started to arrive at the square in front of the City Hall. It was mostly young people, but older people showed up too. Many of them told us later that they came because they wanted to see what it would look like.

Sławomir Mentzen was a few minutes late. The car pulled up right up to the tent behind the stage. The candidate, accompanied by his staff, quickly entered the tent. After a moment, he was called out by the host.

Interestingly, we noticed that Mateusz Kempa, a councilor from the group of mayor Marek Długozima, was standing by the confederation tent and by the staff officers. As it turned out later, he was a supporter of the confederation and helped hang up the posters. In Mentzen's entourage, we also noticed an official from the Trzebnica Commune, who was eager to help the staff officers.

Meanwhile, after a short introduction to the sounds of music, Mentzen entered the stage and quickly informed that he had already held over 300 meetings. After a while, the audience heard that he wanted something to change in Poland. As at other meetings, he began by criticizing the PiS and PO governments. Then, as one might expect, he talked about immigrants and the green deal. He said that Germany was sending us thousands of immigrants, although he did not provide or show any proof. Instead, he said that if a German police car with immigrants arrived, he would confiscate it.

The convention looked exactly like his similar speeches organized all over the country. Mentzen spoke fluently, as if he was reading from a piece of paper, but there was no piece of paper, because the whole thing had been memorized. The same slogans appeared, which are already known from his other speeches. So he complained about the European Union, he said that our country is not safe because it supposedly has no ammunition.

After a while, he began to attack his opponent, Rafał Trzaskowski. He reminded him that the Warsaw metro was being built by a foreign company. As usual, he talked about toilets built for over 600 thousand. He mentioned that politicians do not care about the interests of residents, but steal and waste public money. He criticized the Minister of Health Izabela Leszczyna and reminded her that she is a Polish philologist by education. Later, he said that he wants Poland to be safe, that he wants good health care and low taxes. He just did not say how he wants to achieve these goals. He also did not say with what money he wants to strengthen the army, since he intends to reduce taxes. He did not say who could be the Minister of Health and what he would do to improve the situation. Instead, he spoke about expensive electricity and high interest on loans. Of course, he did not indicate how he intended to reduce them.

At certain moments, it was obvious that the candidate was losing his voice, because he would occasionally cough. Despite this, he continued to talk about wanting a safe Poland, low taxes, good healthcare, etc. Unfortunately, he never once said how he intended to achieve this.

During the speech, one of the staff members came on stage to take photos. Some of them will probably end up on the party's social media.

Mentzen spoke for a little over 20 minutes before leaving the stage to shake hands, take photos and sign autographs while the loudspeakers played fast-paced music.

After a moment, the candidate entered the tent, and we noticed that the staff members were preparing a scooter for him. And indeed, after a moment, Mentzen, accompanied by another staff member, got on a scooter and, after pulling back the canvas at the back of the tent, quickly drove away along Głowackiego Street, where a car was waiting for him at a considerable distance. As could be expected, he did not want to answer any questions from journalists.

We managed to talk to a few residents. You can see it in the aforementioned film. We asked Councilor Kempa what he liked the most. He replied that it was specific, substantive arguments. What kind? For example, a strong and safe Poland. We asked if he knew how Sławomir Mentzen wanted to do it. He replied that it was in his program. We said that it was not there. The councilor replied that he had heard what the candidate had said here. We asked what exactly would be done and how. Does he know how, for example, the health service is to be improved?

Mateusz Kempa admitted that it may not have actually come out, but he did say who currently heads the ministry and that it is a Polish teacher. We asked if he knew who would be the health minister if the Confederation ruled.

- Well, I'm not in the party authorities - replied Mateusz Kempa.

So you blindly believe that everything will be fine? - we asked.

- You know, no, you came with specific rhetoric - the councilor began to say, after a while he wondered why we were asking such questions right after the rally.

So we asked specifically whether he thought Poland should leave the European Union, because that's what Confederation politicians suggested. The councilor admitted that he was not in favor of leaving the union, but that countries that decide to do so could benefit. Which countries? Well, according to the councilor, Great Britain benefits, although polls indicate that residents regret this decision.

Another resident we met told us that she came because she wanted to see what it looked like. She noticed that there was a lot of propaganda, but she still didn't expect any specifics. She added that she was aware that Sławomir Mentzen probably won't win the elections, but he could make the Confederation get more votes.

- I remembered to throw out Ukrainians and immigrants, but they don't bother me. I liked that he was relatively punctual and had a nice song at the end. I think I'll even listen to it - told us one of the young voters, who added that in his opinion Poland should unite, not leave the European Union.

Meanwhile, the square quickly emptied. The staff quickly dismantled the tents and the stage. The parts were quickly packed into vans. We were unable to determine how the election staff obtained permission to organize the election rally and whether the commune was paid for the use of the land. We directed questions on this matter to the mayor of Trzebnica.

Our Facebook live broadcast was met with great interest. To date, we have recorded around 50,000 views. There are also over 100 comments under the video:

::: Can't listen to it, it repeats the same thing everywhere.

::: Who listens to his learned nonsense!?

::: Only Slawek!

::: Poles falling for systemic waifs again??? There is no one to vote for again! Because there is no candidate who would like to give up power to the Nation!!!

::: Because he runs away to avoid getting asked an uncomfortable question

::: Now you can see how many lunatics there are around us. It's scary. So half of these guys treat women like they're in a confinement? The other half say that rape is just another kind of sex? Seriously? Well, when I see women there, I think they probably like being treated like that. Bravo, ladies.

::: And Mentzen, is that a Polish surname? Doesn't it come from German?

::: and he saw the church's landed estates in Trzebnica, he was at the parish cemetery::: Faizi Mentzen and his scooter. Batman is like any country::: There was someone there who was 18+ because as you can see in the film, the electorate was 12+

These are just some of the comments that appeared under our report.