--- title: Gary Johnson Still Trying to Name Foreign Leader He Admires description: Libertarian party presidential candidate Gary Johnson wants you to know that he still can't name a single foreign leader he admires. canonical: https://time.com/4513636/gary-johnson-world-leader/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-29T20:15:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T06:48:51.320Z article:section: Politics og:title: Gary Johnson Is Still Trying to Find a Foreign Leader He Admires og:description: There are plenty of world leaders Johnson could name og:url: https://time.com/4513636/gary-johnson-world-leader/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6484ca30494190f6/6988a820a988ca7c596b9995/gary-johnson-foreign-leader-name.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Libertarian Presidential Nominee Gary Johnson Speaks At Purdue University og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gary Johnson Is Still Trying to Find a Foreign Leader He Admires twitter:description: There are plenty of world leaders Johnson could name twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6484ca30494190f6/6988a820a988ca7c596b9995/gary-johnson-foreign-leader-name.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gary Johnson Is Still Trying to Find a Foreign Leader He Admires > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=b4f7f2aa-f465-4776-9f91-0bb3384ca2dd&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Gary Johnson Struggles to Name His Favorite Foreign Leader [Watch (HLS stream): Gary Johnson Struggles to Name His Favorite Foreign Leader](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/leDD2Uqc.m3u8) (0:50)  _Published 2016-09-29. When asked to name his favorite foreign leader, the Libertarian Party presidential nominee had another "Aleppo moment."_  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Sep 29, 2016 8:15 PM UTC  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Sep 29, 2016 8:15 PM UTC Libertarian party presidential candidate Gary Johnson wants you to know [that he still can’t name a single foreign leader he admires](http://time.com/4512853/gary-johnson-aleppo-moment-foreign-leader/). Johnson could not name one when Chris Matthews asked him during an interview on _MSNBC_ Wednesday night. “I guess I’m having an Aleppo moment,” he said at the time, for some reason bringing the time [he blanked on the war-torn Syrian city](http://time.com/4483682/presidential-candidate-gary-johnson-asks-and-what-is-aleppo/) and asked “What is Aleppo?” Watch Matthews prod him for an answer (and watch his running mate, former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld, step in to help) in the clip above. After a flurry of Thursday coverage about the incident, the former New Mexico governor tweeted an update: > [](https://twitter.com/GovGaryJohnson/status/781559655839522817) Was Johnson employing self-deprecating humor? Trying to show that people are laughing with him, rather than at him? Spinning the situation so it looks like he was being thoughtful, instead of just not being able to name a world leader? Implying that every single foreign leader pales in comparison to leadership in America? No matter the reason, we, like Weld, thought we would offer Johnson some assistance with the question. So here are the names of a few world leaders: * **Vladimir Putin, President of Russia** Donald Trump [already claimed him](http://time.com/3978915/donald-trump-putin-comment/), but [love for Putin](http://time.com/4397022/donald-trump-vladimir-putin/) is so rare in American politics that it’s still a [pretty original choice](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-runner-up-vladimir-putin/). * **Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia** Under [Santos](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2111975%5F2111976%5F2112099,00.html), the Colombian government finally [signed a peace deal](http://time.com/4049361/colombia-farc-civil-war-peace/) with FARC this month, ending decades of civil war. * **Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom** She just stepped up to the plate after the Brexit vote — an undertaking worthy of anyone’s admiration. * **Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada** Johnson [wouldn’t be alone](http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/09/kate-middleton-sure-is-enjoying-the-view-in-canada.html) in his admiration of our neighbor to the North. * **Pope Francis**, **Sovereign of the Vatican City (among other roles)** A divinely uncontroversial choice (and _TIME’s_ 2013 [Person of the Year](http://poy.time.com/2013/12/11/person-of-the-year-pope-francis-the-peoples-pope/)). * **Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany** We know she was Weld’s pick, but we’re including her here because she was _TIME_‘s most recent [Person of the Year](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2015-angela-merkel/). ## Transcript Who's your favorite foreign leader? Who's my favorite? Just name anywhere in the country. Any one of the continents, name any country. Name one foreign leader that you respect and look up to. Anybody. [ SOUND ] Mine was Shimon Peres. No, okay, I'm talking about living. Go ahead. [ LAUGH ] You gotta do this. Any where, any continent. Canada, Mexico, Europe, over there, Asia, South America, Africa. Name a foreign leader that you respect. I guess I'm having an Aleppo moment in the former president of Mexico. But I'm giving you the whole world. I know. I know. Anybody in the world you like. Anybody. Pick any leader. The former president of Mexico. Which one? I'm have a brain freeze. Well name anybody. Fox. Zedillo. Fox. Who's your favorite foreign leader? Get him off the hook. Fox. He was terrific. Name a foreign leader you respect. Any foreign leader? Merkel? Okay Merkel. 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