No, the Polish First Lady Did Not Snub Trump — Here’s Proof

Fake news?
By
Editor

Twitter lit up with claims that Polish First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda snubbed President Donald Trump when he reached out to shake her hand and she instead skipped over him and walked over to his wife, First Lady Melanie Trump.

But while some in the media published stories about the purported snub — and countless people took to social media to praise Duda for the supposed slight — there’s a major problem: It’s fake news.

An extended version of the clip shows Kornhauser-Duda shaking the president’s hand immediately after she greets Melania Trump.

Here’s one version of the video that shows the faux snub:

Now, here’s the extended version that debunks it:

NBC News reporter Bradd Jaffy explained: “Folks, Poland’s first lady did not diss Trump’s handshake attempt. She was looking at Melania, shook her hand, then shook Trump’s. Stop.”

But some outlets such as Newsweek and The New York Daily News played up the moment, running stories with headlines like: “SEE IT: First Lady of Poland appears to snub President Trump’s attempted handshake in Warsaw” and “Watch Donald Trump Handshake Rejected by Polish First Lady in Hilariously Awkward Exchange.” 

Screen shot from the New York Daily News

Here’s how the Daily News framed the encounter:

President Trump just can’t get a proper handshake abroad.

The First Lady of Poland appeared to snub Trump for a handshake Thursday after he gave a speech in Warsaw — giving Trump yet another public rebuke during a foreign trip.

News cameras captured Agata Kornhauser-Duda gliding past the open-handed Trump during a photoshoot, stepping straight to First Lady Melania Trump instead.

The outlet did note that Kornhauser-Duda ended up shaking Trump’s hand, but described it as a “one-second shake—much shorter than her prolonged shake-and-chat with Melania.” Read more of that story here.

A screen shot from Newsweek

While it’s true that Kornhauser-Duda’s handshake with Melanie Trump lasted around three seconds compared to her one-second greeting with the president, it seems like a stretch to act as though this was some sort of “hilarious” slight.