"We could have done better," far-right Baudet says about FvD seats quadrupling

Far-right FvD leader Thierry Baudet finally responded to his party's results in the parliamentary election. The FvD quadrupled its parliamentary seats from 2 to 8, according to the interim results based on 91 percent of votes counted at 1:00 p.m. He called it fantastic, but "of course you always hope for more."

"We have quadrupled, there is no other party that has won so much," Baudet said, NOS reports. "The result is disappointing compared to the maximum I thought we could achieve, but it is not too bad compared to the polls. We could have done even better if more people had voted for us. Now we didn't become so big that we can immediately change all the rules with the click of a finger."

Up to 1:30 p.m. Baudet had been conspicuously silent about his party's win, prompting hashtags like #baudexit and #waarisbaudet to trend on social media. Hans Smolders, number four on the FvD's list of candidates, told ANP that Baudet was too tired to respond after all his campaigning. Though the news wire pointed out that videos also surfaced of a bouncing Baudet at a crowded results party.

On Twitter, the FvD thanked voters for "a resounding win against the endless lockdowns." The party called it "a huge victory for freedom".

"With your support - and the support of our wonderful, indispensable volunteers - we will continue. We have a lot more clout in the Tweede Kamer and will propagate our voice even more strongly. Our campaign for our freedom and for the Netherlands will also continue outside the Kamer," the FvD tweeted.