Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson drew a blank during a live interview on MSNBC Thursday morning when asked what he would do to address the situation in Aleppo, which is the epicenter of the refugee crisis in Syria.
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In the interview, contributor Mike Barnicle asked the Libertarian presidential candidate what he would “do about Aleppo”, prompting a befuddled response from Johnson.
Johnson’s stumble on Syria comes at a time when his candidacy has appeared to pick up slightly more steam than when he ran for the presidency in 2012.
“OK, got it”, Johnson responded.
“Aleppo is in Syria”, Barnicle explained.
Johnson also suggested that the war in Syria is the result of a US -backed effort at regime change. “You asked ‘What is Aleppo.’ Do you really think that foreign policy is so insignificant that somebody running for president of the United States shouldn’t even know what Aleppo is, where Aleppo is, why Aleppo is so important?” He also offered that the USA had to work with Russian Federation to reach a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
“No, I do understand Aleppo and I understand the crisis that is going on”, Johnson insisted, pivoting to speak about avoiding military involvement in the crisis.
BARNICLE: What would you do if you were elected, about Aleppo? “But hit with ‘What about Aleppo?’ I immediately was thinking about an acronym, not the Syrian conflict”.
Johnson also acknowledged the interview was a black eye for his campaign, which is now drawing support from nine percent of the public, according to an average of polls compiled by Real Clear Politics.
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In a phone video Halperin made of the exchange and shown on camera by host Mika Brzezinski, Johnson agreed that “sure it should” become a big flap in his campaign, and indicated he may have been clarifying Barnicle’s question. “Well, you can look at the map and find Aleppo”, she said.
