In their first TV ad to air locally, Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson and running mate William Weld look directly into the camera as they introduce themselves.
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In Syria, he said, Washington needs “to join hands with Russian Federation to diplomatically bring that at an end” and the Free Syrian Army rebels the U.S. has been supporting are “coupled with the Islamists”.
“OK. Got it. With regard to Syria, I do think it is a mess”, the Libertarian nominee said.
“I immediately was thinking about an acronym, not the Syrian conflict”. I’ll admit if someone brought up Aleppo outside of a context of discussing Syria it is quite possible I wouldn’t have immediate recognition either (especially if I haven’t had a proper amount of caffeine).
“And what is Aleppo?” a perplexed Johnson shot back. Should I have identified Aleppo? Yes.
Here’s the exchange between Johnson and “Morning Joe” co-host Mike Barnicle.
He continued, “Can I name every city in Syria? No”. “And I understand the crisis that is going on”.
In an interview on ABC’s The View, Johnson said “so be it” if the gaffe is a disqualifying question. “You’re kidding me”, he said.
In an interview on Bloomberg News later, Johnson said he was “incredibly frustrated” with himself and had been caught unaware. “No one is taking this more seriously than me”.
Gary not knowing Aleppo hints that he is not serious about winning the presidency and isn’t putting in the work to win, but the real tragedy is what is happening in Syria. But an elective could have exposed him to Nabokov’s well-known short story titled “That in Aleppo Once.” which eNotes calls a “narrative of the struggle of a nameless man to preserve his sanity” – which also accurately describes the plight of the average citizen during the 2016 campaign.
After the “Morning Joe” interview and the hashtag #whatisaleppo began trending on Twitter, Johnson reportedly canceled an interview he had scheduled later in the day with a NY talk radio program.
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The two have been campaigning heavily on the credentials of their combined gubernatorial experience, and edging toward unprecedented heights in many national polls amidst widespread antipathy toward the major party’s candidates.
