Gary Johnson’s vice presidential running mate compared him on Wednesday to Abraham Lincoln, regarded as one of the greatest presidents of the United States.
Former Governor Bill Weld of Massachusetts praised Johnson’s humility, moving away from CNN’s Jake Tapper’s questions about Johnson’s recent gaffes.
“He’s a very humble guy,” Weld said. “He’s very ambitious; he’s very strong, but he has tremendous humility. He kind of — don’t laugh — kind of reminds me in many ways of Abraham Lincoln, who was another great truth-teller of his time.”
Tapper asked Weld about his comment that, “Pop quizzes on TV are just not Gary’s long suit.”
“With all due respect sir, I don’t know if they were pop quizzes,” Tapper pressed. “I mean just being able to- knowing what Aleppo is? It’s been in the news for months and months and months, years, really, knowing, having an idea of a world leader that you admire? I mean those aren’t, those aren’t like, ‘Who is the foreign minister of Poland’ type questions, those are legitimate questions.”
Tapper was referring to Johnson’s befuddlement over several policy matters in recent interviews. Johnson said he had been under the impression that the city of Aleppo, Syria, central to the conflict with the Islamic State, was an acronym for something. Later Johnson was unable to name a world leader he admired.
“Okay, I’ll give you that,” Weld told Tapper. “We’d like to have those two sentences back, no question. I mean, Gary is quick to assign blame to himself and to take, take responsibility, not always the hallmark of a practicing politician.”
