Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson was stumped when MSNBC's Mike Barnicle asked him what he would do about the Syrian city of Aleppo.
September 8, 2016

Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson was stumped when MSNBC's Mike Barnicle asked him what he would do about the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Gary Johnson, the Libertarian presidential candidate, apparently does not know what Aleppo is.

Asked on Wednesday's "Morning Joe" what he would do if elected president about the city in Syria at the center of the refugee crisis, Johnson earnestly asked: "What is Aleppo?"

"You're kidding me," responded Mike Barnicle, who had asked the question, and then began to explain what Aleppo is to the candidate.

"OK, got it, got it," Johnson said, cutting him off. He added: "With regard to Syria I do think it's a mess. mess. I think that the only way that we deal with Syria is to join hands with Russia to diplomatically bring that at an end."

"It's just a mess," he said.

Yes.

The response from the talking heads on MSNBC was predictable:

The "Morning Joe" hosts were disturbed about Johnson's confusion about Aleppo.

"My god, can you believe it?" Scarborough asked co-host Mika Brzezinski after a commercial break. "It would be like asking, 'What is Sarajevo?' in 1991. It is stunning."

He called Johnson "so ignorant on foreign policy to ask 'What is Aleppo' on national television."

Bloomberg's Mark Halperin interviewed Johnson minutes after the interview (see below), and MSNBC broadcast smartphone footage of Johnson saying, "I'm incredibly frustrated with myself."

I'd be surprised if Trump, who Scarborough and Brzezinski were propping up for months on end until they just recently turned on him, would have known what or where Aleppo was either, but they're calling it a disqualifier for Johnson.

UPDATE: Johnson released a statement and in discussions with reporters admitted he "f**ked up."

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