Aleppo, once Syria’s economic powerhouse, has been devastated by the war that began in the country in March 2011.
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“Here’s Gary Johnson’s chance to say: ‘If you don’t like what you saw last night, I will be honored to receive your vote, and he had an opportunity to perform and is worthy of the vote”.
Gary Johnson is the Libertarian candidate for president, running along with former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld. In response, and without a hint of realization of how huge a misstep he was making, Johnson, a former New Mexico governor responded by asking, “What is Aleppo?”.
“OK. Got it. With regard to Syria, I do think it is a mess”, the Libertarian nominee said.
And then the fact that we’re also supporting the Kurds and this is-it’s just-it’s just a mess.
Johnson then apparently postponed and interview later Thursday morning on a NY talk radio program.
So said US presidential candidate Gary Johnson, a Libertarian, on Thursday during a morning segment on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”.
The other panel members were equally stunned.
According to RealClearPolitics today, Johnson has 9% support – not much of an uptick from the 8.5% support he had three months ago on June 8.
The presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party said Thursday he is not familiar with one of the worst-hit cities in the six-year long Syrian war. Should I have identified Aleppo? “I do understand Aleppo and I. understand the crisis that is going on”. “But when we involve ourselves militarily, when we involve ourselves in these humanitarian issues, we end up with a situation that in most cases is not better”.
Johnson acknowledged to another MSNBC reporter afterward that the attention to the error was deserved and apologized in a statement, saying he was thinking of an acronym, not the Syrian city. Halperin said that later in their interview Johnson said “I need to learn more”, and that he and his team were “clearly chastened” when he spoke to them in the lobby. Do I understand its significance?
Johnson noted that while he served as governor, he often did not know things off the top of his head, and surrounded himself with people who do. “It worked. That is what a President must do”, he said in the statement.
Just a few minutes later, however, Johnson was directed to a convention center auditorium named after Harriet Tubman.
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Mr Johnson’s blunder has been ridiculed, with #WhatisAleppo trending on Twitter, and Mrs Clinton chuckling at a press conference when asked about his gaffe.
