SNSPA rector condemns USR senator for calling President Nicușor Dan 'a fool in the wrong places'

The insult

Senator Cristian Ghinea of the reformist USR party described President Nicușor Dan in harsh terms during an appearance on the podcast Comunitatea Liberală on 6 July. He called the head of state 'a fool who ended up in the wrong places' and 'a wrong person for Romania', adding that Dan is 'very good at making plans and cynically using people, with no ultimate goal other than to be the top dog there'.

I don't think he is a diabolical character. I think he is a fool who ended up in the wrong places, who is very good at making plans and cynically using people, with no ultimate goal other than to be the top dog there. He is a tragic character, in the end.

Ghinea also accused the president of running a 'cynical strategy' during the 2025 presidential campaign, presenting himself as the only pro-European candidate capable of reaching the runoff and exploiting the weakness of then-USR candidate Elena Lasconi.

Pricopie's condemnation

Remus Pricopie, rector of the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA), responded on Facebook the same day. He questioned how an educated politician from a democratic party could use such language and warned that normalising insults erases the line between democratic parties and extremist movements.

It's hard for me to understand how an educated USR politician can use such uneducated language. Does USR's silence mean disapproval or, on the contrary, validation of such an insult?

Pricopie argued that if this kind of language becomes acceptable, the specific difference between democratic parties and extremist politicians, who have made insult their main political weapon, disappears. He cautioned that degrading language is often the first sign of degrading politics, and that words almost always precede deeds.

Campaign accusations resurface

In the same podcast, Ghinea revived criticism of the 2025 presidential race. He claimed Nicușor Dan deliberately used opinion polls to create a sense of scarcity and present himself as the only viable pro-European option. Ghinea also raised questions about the financing of Dan's polling, without providing evidence of irregularities.

Where did Nicușor Dan, the mayor of the capital, who earned 12,000 lei a month, get money to do polls? That is another matter. There was always an operation around him: let's make money with polls.

Ghinea did not spare Elena Lasconi either, saying she 'self-sabotaged her campaign' and preferred to work with 'all sorts of weirdos' brought in from outside the party structure, creating a chaotic internal competition between party staff and her personal team.

Internal USR fractures

The exchange highlights long-standing tensions inside USR. Ghinea recalled his own disillusionment with Nicușor Dan, a founder of the party, saying he joined USR for Dan but realised after a few months that he was 'a mess'. Dan left the party in 2017 after a dispute over the party's stance on a constitutional referendum.

On 9 April 2025, the USR leadership voted to withdraw support from Lasconi and back independent candidate Nicușor Dan, arguing polls showed she had no realistic path to the runoff. Lasconi refused to step aside, creating a legal and political deadlock. The episode continues to fuel resentment among party figures like Ghinea.