Jeremy Clarkson manufacturers Donald Trump ‘sick’ for ‘past the pale’ video

Jeremy Clarkson launched a scathing critique of Donald Trump in his latest column after the US President posted a ‘deeply offensive’ video days after a Brit was mauled to death by a tiger

Jeremy Clarkson has slammed Donald Trump for posting AI-generated footage of him chasing and wrestling the tiger that mauled a young man to death in Doncaster last weekend.

William Chapman, 24, lost his life after entering the tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park and his family later said he had a “significant mental illness”. However, to add to their distress, the US President uploaded a video of William on his Truth Social platform alongside the caption: “Don’t ever mess with nature.”

He also shared an AI clip set to the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight showing him taking the tiger down before the family of the victim released a statement asking people to stop sharing such content as it was causing “severe distress at an exceptionally vulnerable time”.

Former Top Gear host Jeremy is now the latest person to criticise Trump for the post and he used his column to call the leader of the free world “sick”. The 66-year-old, now famed for his Clarkson’s Farm show on Amazon Prime Video, said: “When I heard that someone had been mauled to death at a zoo in Doncaster, my first thought was, ‘Oooh. That’s not a nice way to go.’ My second was, ‘And because he has a family, I shall definitely not be writing about the incident in The Sun this week.’

“But then along came Donald Trump. Now I know he puts his foot in it on an almost daily basis, but to upload some AI footage of him successfully wrestling a tiger is beyond the pale. It’s sick.”

After Trump’s distasteful video, South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard said: “[The family] spoke to my office yesterday, sharing the pain and suffering it’s causing them knowing that videos and pictures of his death are being shared across social media. The President of the United States now using AI to mock that incident and the pain felt by the family of Mr Chapman, for little more than a cheap laugh on social media, should be greeted with the contempt it deserves.”

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Clarkson was more forthcoming in his critique of Trump than the Prime Minister’s official spokesman who said: “I’m not going to comment on the president’s social media channels, he’s got a press secretary who can speak to that.”

William’s family described him as a “bright, warm and engaging young man” who was “deeply loved” and they added: “Sadly, William suffered from significant mental illness over a number of years and was consequently prescribed strong medication. It will be for the coroner to decide what part this played in his death. We would ask everybody to respect that process.”

Yorkshire Wildlife Park reopened on Thursday after “engagement with the relevant authorities”.