The historic interview between Michał Rachoń and Donald Trump lasted just under 15 minutes. It was conducted at Trump Tower in New York, a location clearly not suited for any kind of interview, let alone one with a candidate for the most powerful position in the world. Despite the quality of this brief, five-question conversation, TV Republika was the only European channel to air an interview with Donald Trump. So how did it go?
TV Republika and Michał Rachoń Conduct an Interview with Donald Trump
It's hard to ignore that TV Republika, as the only Polish television station, managed to secure an interview with Donald Trump, the presidential candidate, in the U.S. Michał Rachoń, the star of TV Republika, was chosen to conduct the interview. The former (and perhaps future) president of the U.S. was asked five questions, but Donald Trump was his usual self, not really answering any of them while simultaneously addressing all of them at once.
Unfortunately, the technical aspects of this short conversation were lacking. It was conducted in what appeared to be the lobby of Trump Tower, with no lighting for the interviewees, making them appear dramatically dark - Trump was really only recognizable by his voice and his slightly lit hair, as his face remained in the shadows. Clearly, the interview took place on the go, between one of Trump's meetings, as he had just returned from a rally in Pennsylvania.
At the very end, Michał Rachoń had the honor of being lightly tapped on the knee in a familiar manner - Trump opted not to shake hands but gave Rachoń a pat on the leg, shortening the distance between them.
TV Republika had sent a reporting team to the U.S. several weeks prior. They have been traveling across the U.S. with Donald Trump, completely disregarding the existence of the other candidate, and have no apparent plans to schedule an interview with Kamala Harris.
In the meantime, Donald Trump, in conversation with Michał Rachoń, was asked a few substantial questions. Rachoń inquired about what the president would like to say to Poles, his views on obtaining American resources and selling them to the European market, and his thoughts on the "woke" and "gender" ideologies. Trump pretended to answer the questions but quickly shifted to criticizing Kamala Harris's intelligence ("very low IQ person"), praising Duda ("great guy"), and complimenting Poles ("I love them").
How Was the Interview with Donald Trump on TV Republika Organized?
During the post-interview discussion on TV Republika, station commentators and staff discussed how this - unironically - impressive meeting was organized. No other Polish station has managed to pull off something like this, and likely none had the boldness to even try. Katarzyna Gójska revealed some behind-the-scenes details:
This interview had been in the works for a while, and we had information from Trump's campaign that they themselves were receiving feedback at rallies from Poles who told them they'd seen and heard something on TV Republika. They decided that they also needed to appear on this channel, and that’s one of the behind-the-scenes aspects of how this interview came about!
