• Politics

Gary Johnson Is Still Trying to Find a Foreign Leader He Admires

2 minute read
By Julia Zorthian

Libertarian party presidential candidate Gary Johnson wants you to know that he still can’t name a single foreign leader he admires.

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 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:

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, but love for Putin is so rare in American politics that it’s still a pretty original choice.
  • Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia Under Santos, the Colombian government finally signed a peace deal 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 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).
  • 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.

    •  

    More Must-Reads from TIME

    Write to Julia Zorthian at julia.zorthian@time.com