Gary Lineker accused Good Morning Britain host Richard Madeley of misrepresenting him during a grilling about the tweet which saw the Match of the Day host temporarily stood down by the BBC from presenting duties.
Lineker, 62, was removed from the flagship BBC sports show after tweeting that language used by the Conservative UK Government about immigration was "not dissimilar" to language used in 1930s Germany. He was off air for days, but was later reinstated following a boycott of top on-air talent in solidarity with Lineker.
During a morning TV appearance to promote his ITV game show Sitting On A Fortune, Lineker was quizzed by Madeley about the controversy, with Madeley saying Lineker had compared the UK Government to the Nazis.
But Lineker curtly corrected him, saying: "You already misrepresented what I said. I didn't compare the Government to the Nazis. I didn't talk about the Holocaust, I didn't do any of that.
"All I said was some of the language is not dissimilar to that used back in the 1930s. There is a substantial difference.
"All I was trying to say was we can use kinder language, nothing more and nothing less than that."
As for his disagreement with the BBC at the time, he said: "That's water under the bridge now. All is well with the world. It was a very disproportionate story and it was all very bonkers for a while. Common sense prevailed."
Lineker added: "I think it's really important if you've got a big platform to try and use it for what you think is good. That's what I've always done. People are entitled to their opinions, we all are."
Madeley said he had defended Lineker's right to say what he wants, while disagreeing with what he said. Asked if there was a contradiction in working for the BBC and being a broadcaster paid by licence-fee payers and making political statements, Lineker said: "I'm not in news and current affairs. I'm a freelance. I'm on all sorts of platforms. I think we're OK.
"You're trying to take things out of proportion. It was a silly story that was blown up because I was misrepresented. I think it got resolved in the end and we'll carry on for the time being."
Lineker is set to receive a sport and human rights award at a ceremony in Rome on Wednesday, having been described as a "staunch advocate for the rights of refugees and migrants" in a release confirming the award from human rights organisation Amnesty International. Now in its fifth year, the award is part of a collaboration between Amnesty International and the Italian organisation Sport4Society, and is designed to highlight outstanding contributions to human rights in the field of sport.
Dad-of-four Lineker also opened up during the interview about the "wonderful" experience of hosting two refugees at his home.
"It was a wonderful experience, particularly for my boys," he said. "They're young men growing up, it gave them real perspective and perhaps [an idea of] how fortunate they are.
"Imagine the circumstances where you have to leave your home because you're being bombed or persecuted. Obviously I house them because all I used to get is people saying 'why don't you have them in your house?'
"One day I saw this charity called Refugees At Home so I got in touch and went through the process and housed a couple. People are people. We talk about 'stop the boats' but they are people. We need to take our fair share, be kind and show some compassion and empathy."
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