Question

68% of Poles think Putin could be the perfect president for Poland.

Answer 1

This claim seems to be false, as there is no reputable evidence to base it off of. The video blindly states statistics with nothing else to defend it. Upon searching, the only reputable source that gives a similar number is from Pew Research Center. But it's important to note the context: this article was posted in 2022 while the video provided from the original poster is referencing events that "could" happen in 2025. Additionally, the 68% number in the Pew article is talking about the Polish opinion on the EU, saying "[Smaller but still substantial majorities say the EU respects] understands the needs of Polish citizens (68%) ". The article itself states this is based off opinion, has little to do with election voting, and most likely outdated as it was made 3 years back. There are no other reputable articles using this stat or speaking on this topic. Overall, the claim warped and took existing numbers out of context to create a false statement.

Citation:

https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2022/06/22/spotlight-on-poland-negative-views-of-russia-surge-but-ratings-for-u-s-nato-eu-improve/

Comments

I appreciate how you scrutinized the Pew Research Center source in order to determine the context and what the statistic really means, unlike the source responsible for this highly exaggerated, mostly false claim. I've now seen a number of media outlets manipulate statistics this way, whether intentionally or unintentionally--the one that comes to mind is a People magazine article inflating statistics about young male eating disorders--and then passing on misinformation, although it is interesting to me that a pattern seems to be emerging in numbers being lifted and starved of context from real academic studies. I would've been interested to learn a little bit more about the account that posted/created this video because that could've possibly added a little insight into the motivations and biases of the post, but again, I'm glad that you included the Pew Research Center article as a potential explanation for where this false claim originally began forming.

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I agree with your response. The idea that 68% of Poles think Vladimir Putin would be the perfect president for Poland does not hold up at all. There is no reliable evidence to support that claim, and it looks like someone took a completely unrelated stat about the EU and twisted it to push a false narrative. Considering Poland’s history with Russia and the current political climate, it is pretty unrealistic to think a large majority would support Putin in any way.

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This is a good fact check because it carefully examines the claim and explains why it is misleading. It points out that the statistic used in the video comes from a 2022 Pew Research article about Polish opinions on the EU, not about election voting as the video suggests. The fact check also notes that the video gives no evidence to support its claim and misuses the original data by taking it out of context. Since no other reliable sources back up the video’s claim, it is likely false. A proper citation is also included, which adds credibility.

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This acts as a really good fact check due to your questioning of the authenticity of the source's statistics surrounding the claim. You looked deeper into the context and relevance of this data and effectively pointed out the inaccuracy.

Answer 2

It's just not true that 68% of Polish people think Vladimir Putin would be the perfect president for them. There's no real proof of that at all. It seems like someone made that up, maybe by getting confused about a study from 2022 by the Pew Research Center. But that study was about what Polish people think of the European Union – like if they feel the EU understands what they need. It had nothing to do with supporting Putin or who they'd want as their own president. Plus, the claim talks about things that "could" happen in 2025, so old data from 2022 doesn't even fit. 

https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2022/06/22/spotlight-on-poland-negative-views-of-russia-surge-but-ratings-for-u-s-nato-eu-improve/#:~:text=More%20than%20nine%2Din%2Dten,Christine%20Huang%20and%20Laura%20Clancy

Comments

This is a very clear and assertive response to the claim. It effectively explains that there is no evidence supporting the assertion and that it does not come from a legitimate poll. It’s also helpful that the fact check identifies a real historical study that may have been misrepresented or confused in the original claim. This recognised study also indicates that Poland has opposing sentiments to those indicated in the claim further highlighting the misinformation of this claim. It could also be useful to emphasize that the social media post credited as the source lacks credibility, which further undermines the legitimacy of the claim.