After stumbles, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson tries again on foreign policy
Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson did further damage to his credibility on foreign policy issues this week with comments he made about civilian deaths in Syria—and now he’s set to give a foreign policy address Friday.
Johnson confirmed to CBS News that his speech at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics Friday afternoon will center on foreign policy, an attempt by the candidate to change the narrative about his level of knowledge on the topic.
The speech will finish off another tough week for Johnson in the press. In an interview with the New York Times published Wednesday, Johnson used the example of civilian deaths in Syria to target Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over her hawkish foreign policy tendencies. He seemed to equate the hundreds of thousands of Syrian citizens killed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with civilian deaths caused by the American-backed rebel coalition.
Asked repeatedly if he felt there was a “moral equivalence” between deaths caused by the U.S. and those by Assad, Johnson said he did: “Well no, of course not—we’re so much better than all that,” Johnson said sarcastically. “We’re so much better when in Afghanistan, we bomb the hospital and 60 people are killed in the hospital.”
Johnson’s comments to the New York Times came the week after his knowledge of foreign policy issues came under increased scrutiny. In a TV interview in early September, Johnson did not seem to recognize Aleppo as the name of the war-torn city in Syria; then, last week, he failed to name a single world leader he respected and had to be saved by his running mate, former Massachusetts GOP Gov. Bill Weld. (A day later, he tweeted that he still couldn’t think of one.)
Things are bad enough for Johnson that Weld, his running mate, has indicated he will use his platform to focus his attention on defeating GOP nominee Donald Trump—a tacit admission that he doesn’t see much of a path for him and Johnson.
In its interview with Johnson, the New York Times asked him if he could name the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un. He said he could.
“You want me to name” that person, Johnson said, adding, “Really.” He did not give the name.
Ultimately, Johnson said in defense of his missteps, knowledge of things like world leaders’ names is not what matters—Clinton may have that base of knowledge, but it doesn’t mean she has a good track record on foreign policy.
“Because Hillary Clinton can dot the i’s and cross the t’s on geographic leaders, of the names of foreign leaders,” he said, “the underlying fact that hundreds of thousands of people have died in Syria goes by the wayside.” Clinton, he added, “bears responsibility for what’s happened, shared responsibility for what’s happened in Syria. I would not have put us in that situation from the get-go.”
CBS News’ Will Rahn contributed to this story.