Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate in the 2016 USA presidential race, was questioned about a major flashpoint of the Syrian civil war on Thursday and asked, “What is Aleppo?”. It’s that the candidate’s gaffe is capturing our national attention, while the deaths of thousands of people and the worst refugee crisis since World War II often don’t seem to inspire almost as much concern.
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Johnson has said he stopped using marijuana during the presidential campaign to be as mentally sharp as possible and has said he would not use it if elected president.
During an interview Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Johnson was asked what he would do about Aleppo. “No”, Johnson said. “Aleppo is in Syria”.
“You’re kidding”, responded Barnicle, who then had to explain to the candidate seeking the world’s most powerful office how Aleppo was the war-torn city at the center of the five-year-old Syrian conflict.
Johnson’s blunder has sparked widespread mockery, with #WhatisAleppo becoming a trending hashtag on Twitter, and Clinton chuckling at a press conference when asked about Johnson’s flub.
“OK. Got it”, Johnson said, falling back on libertarian principles of limited foreign engagement.
“It’s the epicenter of the refugee crisis”, Barnicle said. Johnson asked on MSNBC when he was questioned on what he would do about the besieged Syrian city. “But, I will say that it is a process and I respect the process and for those that believe this is a disqualifier, so be it. I think that can happen to anybody”. But Johnson’s “What is Aleppo?” went viral online, raising questions about his fitness to be commander-in-chief. “And I understand the crisis that is going on”. The aforementioned New York Times made an embarrassing mistake in its coverage of what happened with Johnson. His campaign aired its first TV ads last week and is receiving support from former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney who said that Johnson should be on the debate stage.
In an interview with Hugh Hewitt on Thursday morning following the Johnson interview, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan attributed Johnson’s lack of knowledge on Aleppo to his well-known isolationist stance on foreign policy: “Well, he is an isolationist, Hugh, let’s give him the credit of the doubt on that”.
What is more important that a candidate be able to list all of the cities involved in the Syrian refugee crisis or that he has thought through a position on it?
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