Claim fff3e4acChecked 09 Jul 2026
TrueOn the truth scale
“What we got was you.”
Reasoning & Evidence09 Jul 2026
The quote is accurate. In its report on Nigel Farage’s February 24, 2010 speech to Herman Van Rompuy in the European Parliament, The Guardian quotes him saying: “Well, I’m afraid what we got was you ...” before continuing with the rest of the insult. That matches the claim. Sources: The Guardian, “Ukip's Nigel Farage tells Van Rompuy: You have the charisma of a damp rag” (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/feb/25/nigel-farage-herman-van-rompuy-damp-rag).
From article
Except towards [Herman Van Rompuy,] the president of the European Council? You told him to his face he had ‘the charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk’.3On February 24, 2010, he told Herman Van Rompuy, the first full-time president of the European Council: ‘We were told that, when we had a president, we’d see a giant global political figure. … I’m afraid what we got was you. … I don’t want to be rude, but … you have the charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk. … You appear to have a loathing for the very concept of the existence of nation states. Perhaps that’s because you come from Belgium, which of course is pretty much a non-country.’
Sources opened+ 71 search hits considered
| [1] | theguardian.com |