Twitter reminds Nigel Farage about his remarks on Romanians after he hails Emma Raducanu as a ‘megastar’

Everyone knows that Twitter rarely forgives – and never forgets.

And today it’s poor old Nigel Farage who’s on the receiving end of the platform’s elephant memory.

Last night, British tennis star Emma Raducanu made history when she won the US Open with a 6-4 6-3 win over Canadian player Leylah Fernandez.

With her stunning victory, Raducanu became the first qualifier to ever win a grand slam, as well as the first British woman to win a major singles title for 44 years.

Unsurprisingly, praise poured in for the teenage star and the former UKIP leader was among those who decided to publicly congratulate the player. He wrote:

However, it wasn’t long before people pointed out that his well-wishes seemed a little hypocritical in light of some of his previous remarks about immigration and, in particular, Romanians.

Raducanu was born in Canada to a Romanian father and a Chinese mother, before moving to England, aged 2.

Back in 2014, Farage said that “any normal and fair-minded person” would be concerned if they had Romanians for neighbours.

Speaking to host James O’Brien during a car crash interview on LBC, he said: “I was asked a question if a group of Romanian men moved in next to you, would you be concerned? If you lived in London I think you would be.”

And that wasn’t all, although we’re sure Farage wishes it was.

The outspoken Brexiteer is married to a German woman and has bilingual children and was also asked by O’Brien to explain what the difference would be if a group of German speaking children moved in next door.

Farage claimed there was an obvious “difference”.

After the interview, Farage said in a statement: “Any normal and fair-minded person would have a perfect right to be concerned if a group of Romanian people suddenly moved in next door.”

But he did appear to relent later on, saying he “regretted” the fact that he “didn’t use the form of words in response that I would have liked to have used”, adding: “In life sometimes people get things wrong.”

Yet, his anti-immigration rhetoric has continued over the past seven years. What’s more, in an advert which he took out in the Daily Telegraph shortly after that interview – in which he insisted UKIP was “not a racist party” – Farage said: “We should not be in a political union with Romania, with an opened door to all of their citizens. We must take back the power to stop criminals from entering our country by taking back control of our borders.

“When this happens my answer to the question, ‘should people be concerned if a group of Romanian men moved in next door?’ will be ‘no’.”

Unsurprisingly, people were quick to remind Farage about those comments as he was accused of “jumping on the bandwagon” of Raducanu’s success:

Others, including Gary Lineker (who likes to call out certain people on Twitter from time-to-time), just used it as a chance to mock him:

But Sport England board member Chris Grant said he welcomed the comments from Farage, as well as the positive coverage of the 18-year-old in all parts of the media.

Referencing the pictures of people, including families of colour, celebrating Raducanu’s win at her former tennis club, he told the Guardian: “That a tennis club is a diverse place is socially significant in this country, and that’s happening quietly and inexorably. That’s why the Farage thing ultimately becomes irrelevant, because it’s happening anyway.”

Meanwhile, Farage isn’t the only person who’s been criticised for his remarks on Raducanu.

Piers Morgan infamously told Raducanu to “toughen up” after she pulled out of Wimbledon this summer. Now, he’s claimed that she won the US Open after “taking his advice”.

If you want to watch Farage squirm during that terrible LBC interview, you can still do so here.