Scarborough rips Johnson for being ‘completely ignorant’

MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough blasted Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson as “ignorant” for not being able to name a single foreign leader.

“How does somebody think they’re going to run for president and be this ignorant — completely ignorant — of just the most basic things?” Scarborough said on his show Thursday morning. “My children could answer those questions.”

In a town hall style interview with MSNBC Wednesday night, Johnson struggled to answer when host Chris Matthews asked him to name his favorite foreign leader. He eventually said “the former president of Mexico,” though he needed his running mate to remind him of Vicente Fox’s name.

“I guess I’m having an Aleppo moment,” Johnson said in a reference to a similar episode he had on “Morning Joe” when, in response to a question about the Syrian city, he said, “What is Aleppo?”

After the interview aired Wednesday night, Johnson’s campaign manager tried to downplay the incident, saying the uproar was stoked by supporters of Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, who are worried about the insurgent candidate.

“Yes, asked to name a favorite foreign leader, Gov. Johnson didn’t quickly name a specific favorite,” wrote Ron Nielson on Facebook. 

“That really doesn’t mean much. Most Americans and certainly most political candidates would have to stop and think before responding, with the possible exception of a Donald Trump who is enthralled by Putin.”

But critics like Scarborough argue that it’s not difficult to develop a surface understanding of current events, which Johnson appears to lack.

“Does he not read the newspapers? Does he not listen to the radio? Does he not watch TV? You can smoke pot and listen to the radio at the same time,” Scarborough said in reference to Johnson’s admitted marijuana use.