Libertarian Johnson takes heat for ‘What is Aleppo?’ blunder

Aleppo is ground zero for ongoing negotiations between the United States and Russian Federation.

Host Joe Scarborough, though, pressed Mr. Johnson on his confusion about Aleppo.

Johnson, a former two-term governor of New Mexico, is seeking inclusion in upcoming presidential debates against Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, which require a candidate receive 15 per cent in polls to participate.

“I think Gary just didn’t realize the context was Syria or geography or anything like that”, Weld said. “It’s the epicenter of the refugee crisis”, the interviewer said.

He also compared Trump’s campaign to Big Brother in George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984” and said unlike Trump, he and Johnson would fly the GOP banner “without the mean-spiritedness”.

As part of a media blitz in NY to try to raise his polling numbers enough to qualify for the upcoming presidential debate, Johnson fielded a range of questions on Thursday with the aim of demonstrating he can take on Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

“I blanked”, he said. “I understand the significance”.

The former Republican Massachusetts governor will speak to students at 2 p.m. Thursday.

Step up little-known Gary Johnson, who floored the hosts of a USA news show yesterday when he asked “What is Aleppo?” in response to a question about the battlefront Syrian city.

The notion that Johnson was thinking of an acronym drew further online ridicule – perhaps the “Alaskan Logging Expansion & Ping Pong Occupation?” one user opined. No”, he continued. “Should I have identified Aleppo?Yes.

Johnson then apparently postponed and interview later Thursday morning on a NY talk radio program.

“You’re kidding”, panelist Mike Barnicle said, clearly stunned by Johnson’s blatant lack of knowledge.

Therein, the magazine highlighted one embarrassing blunder the candidate has made – one that again raises questions about Johnson’s readiness to take the Oval Office… “But I guess Aleppo doesn’t know who Gary Johnson is either, so we’re even”. But I succeeded by surrounding myself with the right people, getting to the bottom of important issues, and making principled decisions.

On Sept. 8, Johnson asserted that he would rather die before voting for either candidate during an interview on ABC’s “The View”. It worked. That is what a President must do. When asked if his presidential campaign could recover from the gaffe, the Libertarian nominee responded “Gosh, I guess people will have to make that judgment”.

Clinton, asked at a news conference about Johnson’s remarks, laughed and quipped, “You can look on the map and find Aleppo”.