Jeremy Clarkson, 64, falls victim to fake news as he clears up ‘look after our own’ statement confusion
Jeremy Clarkson, 64, has been forced to correct a social media account that claimed he’d issued a stern statement about the state of the UK’s immigration policies.
Clarkson, who’s no stranger to unleashing blistering attacks on prime minister Sir Keir Starmer over his handling of the country’s affairs, was wrongly attributed to a statement about “looking after our own”.
The Clarkson’s Farm star took to his X account to distance himself from the quote that was shared by a Clarkson’s Farm fan account.
The account published the wrongly attributed quote to its 99.6k followers with the accompanying caption: “Thoughts on this statement?”
The statement attached alongside a photo of Clarkson read: “We need to look after our own first.
“It’s not selfish; it’s just the way things should be. You can’t take care of others if you haven’t taken care of your own people.”
The statement’s ties to Clarkson were soon debunked by the man himself, who replied to insist he hadn’t provided it.
In view of his eight million X followers, Clarkson cleared up the confusion by replying: “To be clear. That quote is made up. I never said it.”
As a result of Clarkson’s response, X implemented a community note on the original post informing social media users that the statement was misattributed.
Clarkson faced a mixed bag of responses from social media users after falling victim to the spread of misinformation, with some insisting he should make his stance clear on the quote’s sentiment.
To be clear. That quote is made up. I never said it.
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) September 30, 2024
“It seems like a fair statement – perhaps you should say it!!” one X user replied while a second suggested: “Shame. It’s a great quote. Just say it then it will be true.”
A third echoed: “I say claim it anyway, it makes sense. Also, love Who Wants To Be a Millionaire being back on (contestants last night were brilliant!)”
However, others hit out at the spread of fake news, including a fourth who blasted: “I hate this. People dragging you into a political agenda.
“I don’t know if you agree with what was said or not, that’s not important to me. I just wouldn’t want you to be caught up in a controversy you didn’t ask for.”
And a fifth warned: “It’s important not to believe everything you read.. on either side….” (sic)
Clarkson has publicly shared his views on the government’s response to criticism of its immigration policies before, blasting Starmer for his “rhetoric” towards protestors who took to the streets in the wake of the horrific Southport murders in July.
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“Today, I’m surrounded by farmers and plasterers and brickies and butchers and all I hear, all day long, is that there’s too much immigration,” Clarkson penned in his column in The Sun back in August.
“But if they say this out loud, or if they go on a march, they are told by the London elite that they are far-right extremists or racist thugs.
“For the most part, they’re not. But Sir Starmer doesn’t seem to have grasped this.
“He is surrounded by people who see nothing wrong with immigration and he’s got it into his head – as I did with Brexit – that anyone who disagrees with him must be some kind of Trump-nut.”
Clarkson pointed out the large number of people concerned by immigration and who voted for Reform UK and Brexit, claiming Starmer was “p***ing off” millions of regular Britons by labelling them as “modern-day Hitlers”.
“I therefore suggest that both he and his friends at the BBC calm down the rhetoric or we could be heading for some real trouble,” he wrote.