Johnson was in an interview with MSNBC’s Morning Joe panelist Mike Barnicle, who asked him: “What would you do, if you were elected, about Aleppo?” in reference to the refugee crisis.
Advertisement
At first, Barnicle thought Johnson was joking – replying with “you’re kidding” – when Johnson didn’t recognize the city. That’s no excuse, what so ever, but the dynamics in play in Syria are that you’ve got the Assad regime up against the free Syrian army, which we support, that are allied with the Islamists, ISIS, and you can’t make this stuff up.
Johnson went on to say that he believes committing military forces in places like Syria would have an unintended outcome of making things worse.
“No”, said Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico.
“Johnson’s Aleppo slip & how he recovered shows great accountability, honesty, & integrity”.
“As a third-party candidate loosely associated with the American right, Johnson has attempted to attract support to his campaign from Republicans who call themselves the “#NeverTrump” movement.
“I have to get smarter and that’s just part of the process”, he said. But, after the MSNBC interview, Johnson admitted that he was “guilty” of not “remembering or identifying that it’s Aleppo”.
“Aleppo is the center of a lot of people’s concerns across the planet about the bad humanitarian crisis that is unfolding not only in Syria, but especially in Aleppo”. Johnson asked on MSNBC when he was questioned on what he would do about the besieged Syrian city. If Johnson is to be included in the presidential debates, which he has said are crucial to gaining the traction necessary to become a serious contender in the presidential race, he must improve to at least 15 percent in an average of five polls prior to the first debate on September 26. “I think the one unforgivable in life is hypocrisy”.
“Can I name every city in Syria? No”.
“I do understand Aleppo and I understand the crisis that is going on. I’m running for president of the United States”.
But Johnson wasn’t quite sure what the seasoned journalist was referring to when he asked about Aleppo.
Advertisement
Fortunately for Johnson, it seems there are ways to utilize this gaffe to highlight and rejuvenate his campaign.
