Libertarian Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson Unable to Name a Foreign Leader
Asked to name his favorite foreign leader during a TV interview, Johnson sat speechless before his running mate
Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson showed his lack of knowledge about world affairs for a second time when he failed to come up with the name of a current leader of a foreign country. In a townhall-style televised interview Wednesday night, MSNBC host Chris Matthews asked the presidential hopeful to name his favorite foreign leader. Johnson sat speechless before his running mate, former Massachusetts Governor William Weld, said his favorite was Shimon Peres, who died Wednesday. Matthews went back to Johnson and prodded him to name a living leader from any country. "You gotta do this," Matthews said. "Anywhere. Any continent," Matthews added. "I guess I'm having an Aleppo moment," Johnson said in reference to an interview earlier in September when he asked "What is Aleppo?" in response to a question about the Syrian city that has been a flashpoint in the more than five-year-old civil war. "But I'm giving you the whole world," Matthews said, to which Johnson replied, "The former president of Mexico." When Matthews asked which one, Johnson said, "I'm having a brain freeze." Weld then began naming recent Mexican presidents, prompting Johnson to say "Fox! Thank you," after hearing Weld say the name of former Mexican president Vicente Fox. Johnson, a former governor of the southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico, is a long shot to win the White House in November, currently drawing under 10% support in national polls. He is expected, though, to receive votes from some Americans who are not supportive of either Democrat Hillary Clinton or Republican Donald Trump.