This was not how United States presidential candidate Gary Johnson hoped to finally crack the headlines: mocked mercilessly on Twitter for asking an interviewer “What is Aleppo?” in response to a question about the war-ravaged Syrian city.
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“And what is Aleppo?”
“You’re kidding”, panelist Mike Barnicle said, clearly stunned by Johnson’s blatant lack of knowledge.
“OK, got it”, Johnson said, going on to provide a general answer about the Syrian conflict, where he said the only viable option “is to join hands with Russian Federation to diplomatically” resolve the conflict.
The low approval ratings for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have sent disenchanted voters to third party candidates.
But Weld acknowledged that the episode comes at a hard time for a long-shot campaign fighting to register the 15% support in national polls needed to get onto the presidential debate stage later this month.
The Libertarian – who advocates for legalizing marijuana, simplifying the tax code, imposing term limits on elected officials, and protecting civil liberties and privacy from government – doesn’t appear to be on track to qualify for the first debate.
Green Party candidate Jill Stein is trailing in the polls with about 2 percent of the vote.
“And what is Aleppo?”, was the response from the puzzled former New Mexico governor.
There have been recent calls to let Johnson into the debates, including from another former Massachusetts Republican governor – Mitt Romney – the GOP presidential nominee in 2012 and a fierce critic of Trump.
“I’m incredibly frustrated with myself”, Johnson said in an interview taped off-set after the gaffe and aired on MSNBC.
Following the interview, Johnson attempted some damage control, releasing a statement that said he “blanked” when asked about Aleppo.
“Sure it should”, he said when asked if the gaffe should be treated as significant. I sat down, I didn’t know the context in which the conversation was taking place.
He added: “I have to get smarter, and that’s just part of the process”.
Later in the day, the former New Mexico governor clarified his initial confusion, explaining that he had thought the interviewer was referring to an acronym – and that yes, he does understand the Syrian conflict.
When pressed as to whether he was serious, Johnson indicated that he really was not aware of the city, which has been widely covered during the years that Syria has been engulfed in civil war.
Mr. Johnson answered: “Well, no, I do understand Aleppo, and I understand the crisis that is going on”.
“Yes, I understand the dynamics of the Syrian conflict – I talk about them every day”.
“No one is taking this more seriously than me, I feel awful”, he said.
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But, he said, “I succeeded by surrounding myself with the right people, getting to the bottom of important issues and making principled decisions”.
