Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson is "very solid" on foreign policy, despite his infamous "Aleppo moment," his running mate, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, said Thursday.
"He was eloquent on the perils of Syria before the 'Aleppo moment,'" Weld told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. "Pop quizzes, snap quizzes on television, not his forte."
In September, Johnson drew a blank on the same program when he was asked about the war-torn Syrian city, drawing scorn from the pundits on the show and in public for his gaffe.
Weld said Thursday Johnson knew what Aleppo was, but "he just didn't copy on the context. He thought it was an acronym. He didn't know it was a place name. I've heard him talk about Syria in some detail before that gaffe."
The former governor admitted, though, that he probably has had more "foreign exposure" than Johnson, a former governor of New Mexico.
"He's a western governor," Weld said. "He hasn't had occasion to travel as much as, for example, I have in the last dozen years, both on business and as member of organizations of heads of state.
"So, I've had probably more foreign exposure the last 10 years than I had previously, just because of how I've been spending my time, and Gary's time has been spent more in the West."
Weld also said Thursday that he and Johnson are an alternative Republicans dissatisfied with GOP nominee Donald Trump should examine.
"We are two former two-term Republican governors who are demonstrably fiscally conservative, which should appeal to Republican voters, and we just think a lot of Republicans are not going to be able to pull the lever for Donald Trump," said Weld.
"And it's not just these sex allegations recently. It's that he's campaigning straight out against everything the Republican Party has stood for."
Weld said Trump's standing against free trade and NAFTA are particularly concerning.
"Donald Trump thinks every car is made in one country and sold in another country," Weld said. "He doesn't realize that there are stages of manufacture. Maybe Mexico does a little bit of the low wage stuff, so low wage jobs go to Mexico, but that allows the car companies to sell more cars in Korea and Japan against those manufacturers and hire more engineers and marketing people, which are high wage jobs."
On Wednesday, Johnson issued a statement that Trump "cannot win this election" and it was time for Republicans to reject the notion that he is the only alternative to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
However, he sees himself and Johnson as being "kind of like Tony Blair in Britain or the Bill Clinton of 1996. We're fiscally conservative and socially liberal [and] that's a majority of the country."
Weld said it could also help Republicans in down-ballot races if voters come out and choose him and Johnson, as those people wouldn't then stay home.
Show co-ost Mika Brzezinski asked Weld why he was not on top of the Libertarian ticket, and he said that was because Johnson called him and asked him to run.
"He was already my friend," said Weld. "We served together in the 90s and we kind of bought each other's dog food. We liked each other a lot."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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