Tusk slams populist media boss over Maduro-style ouster call
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has sharply criticised Tomasz Sakiewicz, co-owner, CEO and editor-in-chief of the populist political channel TV Republika, for his call to remove Tusk from office by force, in a manner similar to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The comments followed weekend reports that US forces had targeted government and military sites in Venezuela and detained Maduro and his wife, who are to stand trial in the US on charges related to drug trafficking.
Sakiewicz, a leading figure at TV Republika — which openly supports the former ruling, socially conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party and is widely criticised for political bias — wrote on X on Saturday: "Assad, Maduro… Tusk?"
Tusk responded on X on Sunday, accusing his critics of abandoning democratic principles. "They have stopped believing in their winning democratic elections and are now praying for foreign intervention to overthrow 'Tusk's dictatorship.' You can't sink any lower," he wrote.
MEP Mariusz Kaminski, a former interior minister under the PiS government who was convicted of abuse of power and later pardoned by the PiS-aligned president, also weighed in, posting a photo on X of Maduro in custody with the comment: "Donald Tusk, see how dictators end."
Digitisation Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski took to X to criticise both Sakiewicz and Kaminski: "Suggesting that the Polish Prime Minister is a criminal and will be prosecuted is the worst example of disinformation." (PAP)
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