Gary Johnson still can't name a foreign leader he admires
Gary Johnson, the Libertarian party’s presidential nominee, still can’t come up with the name of a foreign leader he admires.
He tweeted as much Thursday afternoon:
The message -- apparently meant as a criticism of heads of state everywhere -- sparked immediate ridicule on social media, with users pointing out that it might not be wise to continue drawing attention to foreign policy ignorance.
One Mic.com editor even snarked about Johnson’s vocal championing of marijuana legalization:
The tweet was an initial reaction to a town hall event on Wednesday night, where Johnson was asked by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews to name his favorite foreign leader. Johnson repeated the question: “Who’s my favorite foreign leader?”
Matthews went on: “Just name any where in the country - any one of the continents, any of the countries. Name one foreign leader that you respect and look up to...Go ahead, you gotta do this. Anywhere. Any continent. Canada, Mexico, Europe, over there, Asia, South America, Africa. Name a foreign leader that you respect.”
Johnson hesitated, before saying: “I guess I’m having an ‘Aleppo moment’ in the former - former president of Mexico.”
Matthews pressed Johnson, a former New Mexico governor: “But I’m giving you the whole world -- anybody in the world you like? Anybody?”
The Libertarian nominee replied, “The former president of Mexico.”
“Which one?” Matthews asked.
“I’m having a brain -- “ he said, before his vice presidential nominee, Bill Weld, jumped in and provided him the name of former Mexican President Vicente Fox.
Johnson’s self-proclaimed “Aleppo moment” was in apparent reference to his last major foreign policy faux pas, when he was asked earlier this month on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” what his plan would be for Aleppo, the infamous war-torn city in Syria. In response to the question, Johnson, stumped, asked, “What is Aleppo?”
Green Party candidate Jill Stein also weighed in on her favorite world leaders, but none of them is actually leaders of their countries.