Libertarian Nominee Gary Johnson Isn't Sure What Aleppo, Syria Is; Thought It Was an Acronym

Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson on Thursday morning showed at least one way in which he is weak on foreign policy by showing he had no idea what Aleppo, Syria is — the city at the center of the country's bloody five-year civil war and refugee crisis.

When asked, "What would you do if you were elected about Aleppo?" by MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" panelist Mike Barnicle, Johnson responded: "And what is Aleppo?"

"You’re kidding," an astonished Barnicle replied, to which Johnson simply answered: "No."

After an awkward pause, Barnicle explained to the former New Mexico governor that Aleppo is "the epicenter of the refugee crisis" in Syria.

With enough information to give some kind of reply, Johnson gave a general answer about Syria and no details on Aleppo.

"OK, got it. Well, with regard to Syria, I do think that it's a mess," said Johnson. "I think the only way that we deal with Syria is to join hands with Russia to diplomatically bring that at an end but when we’ve aligned ourselves with — when we have supported the opposition, the Free Syrian Army, the Free Syrian Army is also coupled with the Islamists, and then the fact that we're also supporting the Kurds and this is, it's just a mess. And this is the result of regime change that we end up supporting and, inevitably, these regime changes have led to a less safe world."

And it got worse.

Later, MSNBC regular Mark Halperin found Johnson at 30 Rock and asked him about his comments.

"Well, when you recognize what’s going on on Syria, when you recognize that Aleppo is kind of the epicenter," said a nervous-looking Johnson. He added: "Aleppo, not knowing there’s a city between the two forces really at the epicenter, but not remembering or identifying that that’s Aleppo, guilty."

"But in retrospect, is it a town you know?” Halperin asked. "I mean this is going to be a big deal. This is like the first big flap of a campaign that’s been doing pretty well, right? This is gong to be a big flap I promise you."

Johnson replied that he was "incredibly frustrated" with his answer.

"I understand the significance," he said later in the additional interview. "Believe me, no one is taking this more seriously than me. I feel horrible."

The embarrassment was enough for Johnson to cancel at least one other interview scheduled for Thursday.

Johnson later sought to explain the morning's events

"This morning, I began my day by setting aside any doubt that I'm human. Yes, I understand the dynamics of the Syrian conflict — I talk about them every day," Johnson said in the statement. "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 acknowledged that he should have known Aleppo, saying, "Can I name every city in Syria? No. Should I have identified Aleppo? Yes. Do I understand its significance? Yes."

The Libertarian nominee attempted to pivot to governance, saying that overcoming the fact that he won't know everything is a matter of having the right team.

"As Governor, there were many things I didn't know off the top of my head. But I succeeded by surrounding myself with the right people, getting to the bottom of important issues, and making principled decisions. It worked," Johnson continued. "That is what a President must do."

He added: "That would begin, clearly, with daily security briefings that, to me, will be fundamental to the job of being President."

The flap could be a setback for the Libertarian nominee, who has been rising in recent polling with the hope that he would reach the threshold to make the presidential debate stage. To earn an invitation to the first debate, Johnson needs to score more than 15 percent on an average of five national polls the debate commission has picked as its criteria.

In recent national polling, Johnson sits at 9 percent support, according to averages compiled by RealClear Politics.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Commons