Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson cannot name a single foreign leader that he admires.
When asked by Chris Matthews at an MSNBC town hall, Johnson let out a long sigh. His vice presidential pick, former governor William Weld, gave the deceased Israeli president Shimon Peres as an example. Matthews then clarified that he was looking for a living foreign leader. He then began naming countries like Canada and Mexico as examples.
Johnson said he was having another “Aleppo moment” while trying to remember the first name of the former president of Mexico. The Aleppo moment refers back to when Johnson appeared on MSNBC talk show Morning Joe and replied, “What is Aleppo?” after he was asked what he would do to control conflict in the Syrian city.
Matthews stressed that Johnson could pick any leader from the entire world and Johnson still struggled to think of a name. Then Weld helped out by providing the last name of the leader Johnson was thinking of, Vicente Fox.
Matthews moved on to ask Weld who his favorite foreign leader is. When Weld replied that his is German chancellor Angela Merkel.
To end the discussion, Matthews replied that he “can’t argued with that.”
As a result of this lapse, Johnson received much criticism on social media.
On Thursday, Johnson commented on Twitter about his “Aleppo moment.”
Johnson’s campaign received a boost on Friday when the Chicago Tribune endorsed him for president. The Tribune wrote in an editorial that people should be able to vote for someone they admire. They also disagree with the idea that voting for a third party candidate is a waste of a vote.
Meanwhile, Johnson has still not obtained the 15% polling threshold that he needs to be included in presidential debates.
