FACT CHECK: Did Boris Johnson’s Mother Call Him An ‘Idiot With No Common Sense’?

An image shared on Facebook over 770 times claims British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s mother called him an “idiot with no common sense” and said she hopes “he never goes into politics.”

Verdict: False

There is no evidence Johnson’s mother said the quote attributed to her in the Facebook post.

Fact Check:

Johnson’s mother, Charlotte Johnson Wahl, died in September at the age of 79, according to The Guardian. In recent days, some social media users have been sharing an alleged quote from her, saying negative things about her son.

“Yes he is an idiot with no common sense,” Johnson Wahl allegedly said. “I love all my children dearly but Alexander Boris really has very little in the way of social skills, he’s forever in some power struggle with his siblings and changes his mind constantly. I just hope he never goes into politics. He’d be a disaster.”

There is no record of Johnson Wahl ever saying the quote attributed to her in the Facebook post. Johnson Wahl was interviewed by outlets such as the Tatler and Radio Times in 2015, where she spoke about her son. She called her son “soft-hearted” in The Tatler interview. In the Radio Times interview, she stated that Johnson would make a “good prime minister” and that “He’s not as daft as he behaves,” according to HuffPost.

“He’s not as daft as he behaves – and he does behave in quite a daft way. He’s late for things and so on, but has a very good sense of what’s important,” Johnson Wahl said to Radio Times, HuffPost reported. “I think he would be a good prime minister. He’s a very kind man, very fair.”

Had Johnson Wahl said that she hoped her son never goes into politics, media outlets would have reported on it, yet none have. (RELATED: Does This Video Show Boris Johnson Giving Journalists Tea After Recovering From COVID-19?)

This is not the first time a similar quote has been attributed to the mother of a politician. Check Your Fact debunked in 2019 a baseless claim that former President Donald Trump’s mother Mary Anne Trump called him an “idiot with no common sense.”

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