Media mocked Gary Johnson for his Aleppo ignorance, but some attempts to inform him weren’t much better.
Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, when asked in an MSNBC interview (Morning Joe, 9/8/16) what he would do about the battle raging over the Syrian city of Aleppo, responded, “What is Aleppo?”
That’s troubling, that a presidential candidate would be unaware of one of the main battlefields in one of the world’s deadliest conflicts. But even more troubling is that the New York Times, the US paper of record, can’t seem to figure out what Aleppo is, either.
As FAIR contributor Ben Norton noted in a piece for Salon (9/8/16), the Times‘ Alan Rappeport (9/8/16) wrote a piece about Johnson’s gaffe that described Aleppo as “the de facto capital of the Islamic State,” or ISIS. That’s wrong; the de facto capital of ISIS is Raqqa, a city halfway across Syria from Aleppo.
This was then changed in an edit to describe Aleppo as “a stronghold of the Islamic State.” That’s also wrong; the main rebel faction in Aleppo is Jabhat al-Nusra, better known as the Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria—a bitter rival of ISIS. ISIS itself has little presence in the city.
The New York Times‘ embarrassing correction of an embarrassing correction.
The New York Times ran a correction on its misidentification of Aleppo. But then it had to run a correction on the correction—because the first correction misidentified Aleppo as the capital of Syria. The actual capital of Syria is Damascus.
If history and the polls are any guide, Gary Johnson will probably not be elected president in November. But the New York Times is and will likely continue to be the country’s most influential newspaper—so its gaps in knowledge are far more worrisome.
Jim Naureckas is the editor of FAIR.org. You can follow him on Twitter at @JNaureckas.
You can send a message to the New York Times at letters@nytimes.com (Twitter:@NYTimes). Please remember that respectful communication is the most effective.
The blinders leading the blind
Wrong! He was not asked in that much detail as the first paragraph insinuates. He was asked “If you were elected president, what would you do about Aleppo?” If Tump would have been asked that same question he would have said his pets love Aleppo, believe me, I know more about Aleppo than the Humane Society, believe me!
It’s true–the description of Aleppo in the first paragraph is for the benefit of our readers. Johnson was not given that context.
What’s so difficult about including the actual question; “What would you do if elected, about Aleppo?” Seems to defy logic, not to include that, since you also don’t provide the actual TV clip. I’m a FAIR supporter, not just a critical dick. Thanks.
Although I do much appreciate the bigger point of your post, that the NY Times got it wrong three times.
I would not agree that misrepresenting the question is to benefit the readers. This is not a telegram. Word count should not be that critical. It’s a disappointing choice for a trusted resource to have made.
“What would you do about Aleppo”. “What would you do about the Syrian city of Aleppo”. How is that any different?
But hey about that question, what kind of question is it? What do you mean “do about Aleppo”. The questioner, assumed that doing something about Aleppo means doing something about the epicenter of a refugee crisis. But really do something about Aleppo has to be on the level of figure out what USA policy, post 911, is going to be towards: those Al Qaida and affiliated groups who: attacked us on 911.
I MIGHT have believed that was for the benefit of the reader, had you not proceeded to write, “That’s troubling, that a presidential candidate would be unaware of one of the main battlefields in one of the world’s deadliest conflicts.” He wasn’t unaware, he just didn’t realize that’s what was being asked because of the vagueness of the question.
Either you didn’t watch the video, or you’re intentionally misrepresenting what happened. Either way, you and your biased article don’t belong on this site.
Pathetic. Doesn’t stop them from editorializing on Middle East and what its people’s should be doing to please NYT.
What Is the New York Times? Not sure anymore but a long time ago it used to be a newspaper that did honest reporting and fact checking and was’nt a mouth-piece for government, corporations or politicians they favored.
A long time ago? Have you heard of Operation Mockingbird? Maybe a VERY long time ago. In 1895, perhaps.
If you would just let me run this election…just this once, here’s what I’d do:
1) I’d ask all candidates, including Jill Stein and Gary Johnson, to indicate whether they believed in Climate Change and in Evolution. A “no” answer results in instant elimination.
2) Alex Trebek will then conduct a round of questions on geography, history and economics testing the remaining candidates’ knowledge in those areas. No easy questions and you miss two and you’re gone.
It will be a hell of a lot cheaper and quicker than the current process…and my candidate, Jill Stein, will win!
If anyone still thinks that George W. or his White House staff knew much about the history of Mesopotamia, how and by whom modern Iraq was formed in 1920, Sunni vs Shia, Bathist politics or any of the other particulars of a country that occupied the “cradle of civilization” before invading and destroying an entire society, that person just ain’t paying attention.
We’ve been electing ignoramuses for decades.
the blind are leading the blind
Hilary Clinton said of Aleppo “You can look it up on a map.” Wonder if that is what she says to bomber pilots before sending them on a bombing run over Syria?
Let’s not forget that another aim of Hillary is to prevent Russian attack planes from flying in Syria in aide of the Assad government.
She may need to warn the pilots about not starting a world war, should she squeak into the White House.
Rappeport continually got things wrong about Bernie Sanders during the democratic primary, he doesn’t seem real bright. Though he didn’t quite get up the level of working for the Clinton camp, the Times left that to Healy and Chosick.
The New York Times public editor stated several years ago that the NYT does not consider itself the “newspaper or record” and never called itself that. You need to fact check that.
So, Gary Johnson gets trashed for asking a question to clarify a vague question.
Trump gets away with a constant stream of ludicrously incompetent answers to even simple questions.
Not right at all.
I think the debates need to include Johnson ans Stein for clarity and an attention to real national problems.
In my opinion, the biggest threat to this country is corporate malfeasance.
I won’t even read the NYT any more.
me neither
Not surprised with Gary Johnson ignorance rather than gaffe.
He is like most American, ignoramus of geography.
For instance, the US invaded Afghanistan (then Iraq) because of (allegedly) Saudi terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks.
The NYT has developed a strong attraction for spoofs and misinformation, most of which happen because it is incredibly sloppy in its reporting, fact checking and rushing to press to get the story out at the risk of being accurate or factual.
NYT is, through seeming institutionalized ignorance, the author of its own misfortune. It is one of the only world class publications that could have a permanent ‘retraction/apology item on the front page.