Amal Clooney recently bragged that her 5-year-old son supposedly drew a picture of a prison and said that Russian President Vladimir Putin should be in it.
The 44-year-old human rights lawyer mentioned the alleged sketch during a panel discussion alongside Michelle Obama and Melinda Gates at a panel in New York City earlier this week. Clooney, who is married to actor George Clooney, also shared how much her 5-year-old twins Ella and Alexander inspire her work, per Page Six.
She said even though her kids aren’t “quite on top of current events,” they do have a vague notion of what’s going on, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“My son drew a picture the other day of a prison, and he was like, ‘Putin should be here,’” Amal said. She elaborated to say she’s currently “working on Ukrainian affairs.” The mom of two also said her twins are a “real driving force” behind her work at the Clooney Foundation for Justice.
“I do think about in a few years when they’re more than five when they start to learn about some of these issues that we’re talking about and what’s happening in the world,” Amal said. “You know, when they ask us, ‘What did you do about this? What did you say about that?’ I’ve thought about what will my answer be, and I hope it will be a good one.”
Amal’s story about her 5-year-old sparked a lot of reactions, including a healthy dose of skepticism. Those who believed her tale expressed sympathy for the kids who are being exposed to politics at such a young age.
“I’ll take ‘Things That Never Happened’ for $1,000 please, Ken…” one Twitter user replied.
“My 2 year old stopped coding low latency C++ code for a second and asked me why Amal is talking biased geopolitics with her 5 year old. I had no good answer for him,” another person quipped.
“Totally normal,” a third person said, adding an eye roll emoji.
Multiple social media users compared the story to the viral tale of another child who allegedly said, “Ruthkanda Forever” upon hearing that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died in 2020.
“She had tears in her eyes,” Alexandra Lee-Capps wrote of her 10-year-old daughter. “And then she did the Wakanda pose and said ‘#Ruthkanda forever’ — which is the sort of pop culture cross over that I can celebrate,” she continued, referencing the recent death of actor and “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman earlier that year.
The phrase “Ruthkanda forever” has since become a cultural sensation used for any parent who’s suspected of making up stories about their children being very knowledgeable about politics and current events.