OANN's Posobiec Met With Polish Neo-Fascists and Amplified Their Messages Online
One America News Network (OANN) correspondent Jack Posobiec promoted the cause of neo-fascism in Poland, Hatewatch determined during an investigation into his ties to white supremacy.
In April 2017, Posobiec amplified for his Twitter followers an event staged by the Polish neo-fascist political movement called Ob贸z Narodowo-Radykalny (ONR). ONR has a long history of promoting and emulating Nazism. As the German Nazi movement of the 1930s rose across the border, ONR sought a 鈥渃leansing鈥� of Jews in Poland. ONR members were also responsible for a 聽targeted at the country鈥檚 Jewish population. As recently as June 2019, authorities opened 聽after they publicly commemorated the memory of a Belgian member of the Schutzstaffel (SS), which was the paramilitary arm of Hitler鈥檚 Nazi party.
Posobiec, as well as Canadian white nationalist pundit , participated in a march on Warsaw that , as well as a collection of other extreme far-right groups. Marchers that day chanted 鈥�,鈥� according to a report in The New York Times. The march took place in November 2018, while Posobiec was employed by OANN. Someone took a 聽of him at the march, walking with a child in his arms.
Posobiec also met with Krzysztof Bosak of the extreme far-right party Ruch Narodowy (RN) in Poland in July 2017, around the same time Trump gave a nativist-themed address in Warsaw, according to social media posts and local reporting from that time. Posobiec 聽event he described as a 鈥淢AGA meetup鈥� in a series of Twitter posts. (MAGA refers to 鈥淢ake America Great Again,鈥� a Trump campaign slogan.) RN has been criticized for antisemitism. To provide context for RN鈥檚 beliefs, party president Robert Winnicki said in 2018, 鈥�,鈥� in response to a U.S. bill that was passed in an effort to help give restitution to Holocaust survivors and their families. In 2013, while president of the far-right group All Polish Youth, Winnicki also 聽who blamed Jews for their own genocide during World War II.
Posobiec, who is of Polish heritage, has served as a link between President Trump鈥檚 brand and Polish far-right politics. He has promoted Trump in person in Poland and also appeared on Polish state television, hyping the U.S. president. (Following one of Posobiec鈥檚 early appearances on Polish television in July 2017, local Polish media depicted him as a .) Hatewatch previously reported on Trump鈥檚 apparent affinity for Posobiec, noting that he has singled the OANN correspondent out with praise and used Posobiec鈥檚 disinformation and propaganda to deflect from criticism that he has stoked white supremacist violence in the U.S.
Poland is currently under the leadership of Andrzej Duda, a reactionary politician endorsed by Trump who gives voice to hardline anti-人兽性交 views. Like Trump, Duda has overseen a rise in far-right activity 聽in his country. Duda met with Trump as part of Duda鈥檚 push for reelection in June. When Trump acknowledged Duda鈥檚 victory on Twitter on July 13, Posobiec 聽of Polish football fans celebrating.
Posobiec, who denies being a fascist or an antisemite, said he called the FBI after Hatewatch reached out for a comment on this series back in April. In part one聽of this series, Hatewatch reported on Posobiec鈥檚 links to American white supremacists and the beginnings of his career as a journalist, which included adding 鈥渇mr CBS News鈥� to his Twitter bio despite having no apparent connection to that broadcasting company. In part two, three Jewish groups offered statements describing Posobiec鈥檚 words as being antisemitic or denounced OANN鈥檚 relationship to him.
Those stories published on July 8. Posobiec responded to their publication by retweeting allies of his who claimed he was not an antisemite, and by issuing a series of tweets about so-called cancel culture, which refers to the idea of someone being socially ostracized over their behavior. Posobiec did not respond to a voice message from Hatewatch offering him an opportunity to provide further comment.
鈥淐ancel culture is not only awful and digusting [sic], it is un-Christian[.] As Christians, we believe that all humans are imperfect, and that Christ has offered a path of redemption to all[.] Cancel culture kommisars offer only hate[.] Christ asks us to pray for them, and so we shall,鈥� Posobiec , immediately following the stories鈥� publication.
OANN鈥檚 CEO, Robert Herring, called Hatewatch鈥檚 effort to report on Posobiec鈥檚 ties to white supremacists 鈥渁 guilt by association fallacy鈥� and 鈥渁 typical smear tactic鈥� in April. Herring did not respond to a follow up email Hatewatch sent on July 8 after the publication of the first two stories in this series.
Posobiec promoted 'the very symbol of fascism in Poland'
Posobiec used Twitter to amplify the neo-fascist Polish movement National-Radical Camp, or in Polish, Ob贸z Narodowo-Radykalny (ONR) on April 30, 2017. ONR 鈥渋s antisemitic, full stop,鈥� according to Polish sociologist Dr. Rafal Pankowski of the 鈥淣ever Again鈥� Association (in Polish, Nigdy Wi臋cej). Pankowski also described ONR as being 鈥渢he very symbol of fascism in Poland鈥� in an interview with Hatewatch.
Georgetown University research published in 2017 backs up Pankowski鈥檚 depiction of the group. They note that ONR sought a 聽during Hitler鈥檚 rise in neighboring Germany. ONR鈥檚 members also perpetrated acts of violence against Jews in Poland 聽of Jewish homes and shops, according to historians. Poland banned the group around this time, but they were reestablished decades later, according to Pankowski.
鈥淧olish Nationalists March in Support of No Migrant Policy,鈥� Posobiec wrote to his followers about ONR.
Posobiec鈥檚 description of ONR excluded important context. Pankowski noted to Hatewatch that the group marched the streets that day to celebrate their founding in 1934. A local newspaper report corroborates Pankowski鈥檚 assessment and notes that ONR chanted the slogan聽鈥溾�� at that march. Posobiec relayed none of these details to his followers.
Posobiec鈥檚 post about ONR was retweeted more than a thousand times, according to a 聽by The Atlantic Council. As an example of how Posobiec鈥檚 post was interpreted, a Trump supporter replied to him on Twitter 聽by writing: 鈥淧oland is always out in front. The west should use Poland as the example.鈥�
The U.N. called on Poland to follow through on its initial ban of ONR .
'MAGA Meet Up'聽with Krzysztof Bosak in Poland's capital city
In July 2017, two weeks after President Trump gave a 聽speech in Poland, authored by Stephen Miller, Posobiec met in Warsaw with a group including Krzysztof Bosak, according to . Bosak is the deputy leader of the extreme far-right party 鈥淣ationalist Movement,鈥� or in Polish, Ruch Narodowy (RN).
Bosak ran for president of Poland in 2020 as a , far-right extremist candidate but lost, accruing less than 7% of the vote. He is known for making bizarre statements, like 聽whether the earth really revolves around the sun. RN鈥檚 leadership has made antisemitic statements and supported 聽of the Holocaust.
A report 聽in the Polish publication Kontakt noted that Posobiec 鈥渃ame to Poland with his family in early July,鈥� and did so 鈥渁t the same time as Donald Trump.鈥�
Kontakt described the event at which 聽as a 鈥淢AGA meet up鈥� scheduled for July 21, 2017. Bosak鈥檚 Twitter posts were at the time this series was written, and corroborate the , meeting date. Posobiec also 聽from that night labeled 鈥淢AGA Meetup Warsaw!鈥� according to archives. Kontakt reported that Posobiec chased two teenage boys down the street with his cell phone during the meeting, blaming their presence on billionaire George Soros. Soros is at the center of many antisemitic conspiracy theories promoted by the far right.
鈥淭hey were sent by Soros to destroy my meeting with people supporting Trump. This boy鈥檚 brother works for the European Union. He just confirmed his brother is an EU journalist and he was sent here to ruin our thing,鈥� Kontakt聽quoted Posobiec as saying about the people he chased.
Bosak publicly congratulated Posobiec on his wedding in November 2017. He referred to Posobiec on Twitter as 鈥渕y friend鈥� in . Posobiec, for his part, cited Bosak as a source on Twitter as recently as June 5, while referring to antifa,聽a protest movement that targets white supremacy. Posobiec referenced Bosak鈥檚 views about antifa after Trump claimed the protest movement constituted a 鈥渢errorist organization.鈥�
鈥淸Bosak] is right,鈥� on Twitter on June 5 about the fringe candidate. 鈥淎ntifa is a terrorist network with cells in East and West Europe, Canada and the United States.鈥�
Dr. Pankowski of Never Again noted to Hatewatch that Poland鈥檚 far-right extremist community 鈥渟eized on鈥� Trump鈥檚 comments about antifa in June, using them to buoy their own propaganda. Hatewatch reached out to RN by email about Bosak鈥檚 connection to Posobiec but did not receive a response.
Posobiec collaborator warned radical-right Polish forum against a 'Jewish mafia'
Posobiec appeared at a far-right march along with a Polish man named Wojciech Pawelczyk, who describes himself as the administrator for Posobiec鈥檚 Facebook page. Followers of Posobiec might be familiar with Pawelczyk鈥檚 handle, as the OANN correspondent 聽For example, in , Posobiec tweeted a video Pawelczyk cut from a talk given by the John Birch Society, an American far-right group.
Pawelczyk claims in his Twitter bio to serve as video editor for 鈥淲ar Room Pandemic,鈥� a podcast hosted by Steve Bannon, where Posobiec has appeared as a guest on a semi-regular basis. Pawelczyk, who has accrued over 75,000 Twitter followers as of the writing of this story, was among the users of that website who employed the hashtag 聽on July 8, after Hatewatch published the first two parts of this series.
Pawelczyk also contributes to 鈥渁 Polish radical-right, Catholic fundamentalist forum鈥� called Fronda and made comments warning against colluding with the 鈥淛ewish mafia鈥� there, according to research conducted by Pankowski of Never Again. Pawelczyk 聽that if they supported the wrong political party, it would be the equivalent of 鈥渧oting for the payment of Jewish mafia claims,鈥� according to Pankowski鈥檚 translation. Pawelczyk also refers to Posobiec on the forum as his friend and boasts of having access to his and Steve Bannon鈥檚 social media accounts, based on Pankowski鈥檚 translation. Steve Bannon鈥檚 communications director, Alexandra Preate, responded to Hatewatch鈥檚 request for comment by asking for more information about the statements Pawelczyk made on Fronda. After Hatewatch described Pawelczyk鈥檚 statements for her, Preate did not respond.
Posobiec met Pawelczyk during 聽to celebrate Polish independence, he said in a tweet.
鈥淧roud to finally meet the great @PolishPatriotTM today in Warsaw!鈥� Posobiec tweeted on , linking to a handle Pawelczyk used on Twitter at that time.
According to Posobiec鈥檚 tweet, 聽while in Warsaw as a swarm of European far-right groups marched across Warsaw that day, some carrying flares that dotted the sky with a faint red light. ONR and RN, the antisemitic Polish groups Posobiec respectively promoted and appeared with at the 鈥淢AGA meet up,鈥� also marched on Warsaw that day. Marchers yelled white supremacist chants, according to news reports. 聽as saying, 鈥淧oland will be WHITE.鈥�
Just as Posobiec did following the 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, he used Twitter to deflect accusations of white supremacy away from those who attended the march.
鈥淲e have been here all day, and have not heard a single person say amything [sic] like that. Polish people don鈥檛 even talk like that. Quit the fake news, you just look dumb,鈥� Posobiec wrote in response to those reports,
Pankowski of Never Again said that Posobiec鈥檚 denial is inaccurate and described the march as an event that has attracted far-right extremists from across the world for years, including an international slate of white nationalists and neo-Nazis. The U.K.-based civil rights group Hope not Hate noted that 聽landed in Poland to attend, marching in the same crowd as figures such as Posobiec and Stefan Molyneux. Molyneux, a Canadian man who was suspended in recent weeks from websites like Twitter and YouTube, gained infamy for repeatedly promoting debunked claims that women and non-white people are predisposed to be of lesser intelligence than white men. Posobiec with Molyneux on Twitter before the Canadian pundit鈥檚 removal from that website.
鈥淭he event was basically a magnet for the far-right for Poland and other countries. I believe it was the biggest gathering of far-right and white racist groups of its era, internationally speaking,鈥� Pankowski said of the march Posobiec attended that day. 鈥淚 was struck by the intensity of the hatred at this march. Marchers launched anti-Muslim, anti-gay, and antisemitic chants.鈥�
Pankowski told Hatewatch that the march is an annual occurrence and that Posobiec would have been aware of its nature, based on his connections to Poland.
鈥淧osobiec would have known what kind of march this was before he participated in it,鈥� Pankowski said.
Photo illustration by 人兽性交
