Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson is scrambling to do damage control after asking a panelist on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday, “What is Aleppo?”
“This morning, I began my day by setting aside any doubt that I’m human,” Johnson said in a statement following the flub. “Yes, I understand the dynamics of the Syrian conflict — I talk about them every day. But hit with ‘What about Aleppo?’ I immediately was thinking about an acronym, not the Syrian conflict. I blanked. It happens, and it will happen again during the course of this campaign.”
Johnson admitted that “no” he cannot “name every city in Syria” but “yes” he should have been able to identify Aleppo.
“Do I understand its significance? Yes,” the former New Mexico governor acknowledged of the war-torn city.
Johnson was asked by MSNBC’s Mike Barnicle “What would you do if you were elected about Aleppo?” Johnson responded, “And what is Aleppo?”
“You’re kidding,” Barnicle responded.
Johnson admitted in his statement that despite not knowing everything as governor, he “succeeded by surrounding myself with the right people, getting to the bottom of important issues, and making principled decisions. It worked. That is what a President must do.
“That would begin, clearly, with daily security briefings that, to me, will be fundamental to the job of being president,” Johnson said.
