“Here’s a resident of Aleppo, Gov. Johnson. His name is Omran Daqneesh.”
These words, delivered directly to the former elected head of New Mexico, served to echo the sentiments of countless critics questioning Gary Johnson’s foreign policy credentials.
After a morning show gaffe that many are calling a disqualifying moment for the Libertarian presidential nominee, on Thursday afternoon Jake Tapper offered a brief refresher course on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria.
Touching upon everything from CNN colleague Clarissa Ward’s on-the-ground reporting to physicians in Aleppo pleading with President Obama for humanitarian aide, Tapper recapped an environment in which many children have yet to experience a life without war.
But the centerpiece of Tapper’s explainer, and in many ways of the crisis itself, was Omran.
“If you went online, you really couldn’t miss his image,” noted Tapper, referring to the now infamous video clip displaying a groggy 3-year-old, covered head to toe in blood and soot after a recent bombing.
But in concluding his message to Johnson, the host of CNN’s “The Lead” did offer the drowning third-party nominee some semblance of a paddle — at least in comparison to other politicians who have failed to act in the face of Aleppo’s ongoing violence.
Quoting the tweet of author Greg Gutfeld, Tapper asked: “What’s worse? Not knowing about Aleppo? Or knowing all along, and not acting on it?”
