--- title: Gary Johnson Aleppo: Read a Transcript of the Interview description: A transcript of the interview canonical: https://time.com/4483779/gary-johnson-aleppo-transcript/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-08T14:07:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:48:18.307Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read the Interview Where Gary Johnson Asked What Aleppo Is og:description: "And what is Aleppo?" og:url: https://time.com/4483779/gary-johnson-aleppo-transcript/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91a02c894849b129/6988a538fb4eacd44188f055/gary-johnson-what-is-aleppo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: gary johnson what is aleppo og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read the Interview Where Gary Johnson Asked What Aleppo Is twitter:description: "And what is Aleppo?" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91a02c894849b129/6988a538fb4eacd44188f055/gary-johnson-what-is-aleppo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read the Interview Where Gary Johnson Asked What Aleppo Is > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Sep 8, 2016 2:07 PM UTC  Former New Mexico Governor, and third party presidential candidate hopful, Gary Johnson smiles and gestures to supporters after a campaign speech in Portland on August 26. Former New Mexico Governor, and third party presidential candidate hopful, Gary Johnson smiles and gestures to supporters after a campaign speech in Portland on August 26. Portland Press Herald—Press Herald via Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Sep 8, 2016 2:07 PM UTC Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson is [_taking fire for not knowing Aleppo_](http://time.com/4483682/presidential-candidate-gary-johnson-asks-and-what-is-aleppo/), the Syrian city that is one of the [epicenter of the refugee crisis](http://time.com/4459354/omran-daqneesh-syria-aleppo-children/). The former New Mexico governor was on _Morning Joe_ when he was asked what he would do about Aleppo if he were elected president. “And what is Aleppo?” he responded. Below is a full text of Johnson’s interview with MSNBC hosts Mika Brzezinski, Willie Geist and Mike Barnicle. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4483779/gary-johnson-aleppo-transcript/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4483779/gary-johnson-aleppo-transcript/"},"headline":"Read the Interview Where Gary Johnson Asked What Aleppo Is","datePublished":"2016-09-08T14:07:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:48:18.307Z","description":"A transcript of the interview","url":"https://time.com/4483779/gary-johnson-aleppo-transcript/","keywords":["2016 Election","Foreign Policy","Syria","Aleppo","transcripts","Gary Johnson"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91a02c894849b129/6988a538fb4eacd44188f055/gary-johnson-what-is-aleppo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91a02c894849b129/6988a538fb4eacd44188f055/gary-johnson-what-is-aleppo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"gary johnson what is aleppo","caption":"gary johnson what is aleppo","creditText":"Portland Press Herald—Press Herald via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4483779/gary-johnson-aleppo-transcript/","name":"Read the Interview Where Gary Johnson Asked What Aleppo Is"}}]}] ```