Gary Johnson Has Another 'Aleppo Moment' After Failing to Immediately Identify His Favorite World Leader
The Libertarian candidate couldn't immediately name a foreign leader.
-- Gary Johnson has once again demonstrated that foreign policy may not be his strong point.
On Wednesday night — just three weeks after the Libertarian presidential candidate asked an MSNBC host “What’s Aleppo?” when asked what he would do about the war-torn Syrian city — Johnson stumbled over a question that again has left voters scratching their heads.
During a town hall on MSNBC with Johnson, a former New Mexico governor, and his running mate, Bill Weld, a former Massachusetts governor, host Chris Matthews asked, "Who's your favorite foreign leader? Name one foreign leader that you respect and look up to. Anybody."
Weld quickly responded, "Mine was Shimon Peres," the former Israeli president who died Wednesday from a stroke at the age of 93.
"I'm talking about living," Matthews said, turning back to Johnson.
"You got to do this," Matthews said to Johnson. "Anywhere. Any continent. Canada, Mexico, Europe, over there, Asia, South America, Africa. Name a foreign leader that you respect."
With no leader apparently popping into his head, Johnson said, "I guess I'm having an Aleppo moment in the former president of Mexico."
Matthews persisted, saying, "But I'm giving you the whole world. Anybody in the world you like. Anybody. Pick any leader."
Johnson repeated, albeit without specifically naming a leader, "The former president of Mexico."
"Which one?" Matthews asked.
"I'm having a brain freeze," Johnson admitted, as Weld began to list recent Mexican leaders.
"Fox! Thank you!" Johnson said after Weld named former President Vicente Fox.
Weld then said his favorite world leader is German Chancellor Angela Merkel.