Gary Johnson’s heartfelt Aleppo apology

Gary Johnson embraces his humanity and apologizes for a damaging gaffe on “Morning Joe” when asked about Aleppo, Syria. It’s a heartfelt statement, but the damage is done.

Gary Johnson by all counts seems to be a good and decent man. He is not a foreign policy wonk. He’s not a policy wonk at all. But he is a determined, impressive and seemingly steady individual. He has real governance experience and is universally liked. There are not large groups of people coming forward to besmirch this man like our two other presidential candidates.

After his mishap when asked about Aleppo, Syria on “Morning Joe” Gary Johnson released a statement.

This morning, I began my day by setting aside any doubt that I’m human. Yes, I understand the dynamics of the Syrian conflict — I talk about them every day. But hit with “What about Aleppo?” I immediately was thinking about an acronym, not the Syrian conflict. I blanked. It happens, and it will happen again during this campaign.

Can I name every city in Syria? No. Should I have identified Aleppo? Yes. Do I understand its significance? Yes.

As Governor, there were many things I didn’t know off the top of my head. But I succeeded by surrounding myself with the right people, getting to the bottom of important issues, and making principled decisions. It worked. That is what a President must do.

That would begin, clearly, with daily security briefings that, to me, will be fundamental to the job of being President.

Johnson removes excuses and owns up to his mistake. This means he’s mature and a genuine person. That’s worth something. But it’s still a very telling gaffe. It’s equally reflective of Americans in general.