evidence: The claim: Thomas Jefferson said 'the greatest danger to American freedom is a government that ignores the Constitution' Social media users are sharing a purported quote by Founding Father and former President Thomas Jefferson, who is frequently misattributed by politicians and social media users. [...] The claim that Jefferson said "the greatest danger to American freedom is a government that ignores the Constitution" is FALSE. A Jefferson Library researcher includes this quote in a list of spurious quotes and it is not included in any of his writings. There is no evidence to support the claim that Jefferson ever said this.