Back in September of 2016, Libertarian Presidential candidate Gary Johnson was gaining a small amount of traction in the national polls. He had garnered enough forward momentum to be invited on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" show to talk about the day's events.
On September 8, 2016, during a roundtable conversation, where you can see that it looks like his earpiece isn't in correctly, one of the "Joe" panelists asked Johnson what he would do in Aleppo. Johnson looked confused and, after a few uncomfortable moments, blurted out "what is Aleppo?"
Johnson had to run a perfect campaign to even have a sliver of a chance to become president. Let's just be charitable and say that's not the campaign he ran, but those 3 words torpedoed the rest of his run.
You may be screaming at me "he wasn't going to win anyhow!"
You know what? Gary Johnson was my guy. I don't f@cking care if he wasn't going to win anyhow. The national press howled "he doesn't know where Aleppo is" and cackled with laughter.
Reporters treated Gary Johnson like he didn't know what water was.
Fast forward 7 years and Aleppo, Syria's population has nearly rebounded to 2004 levels. In 2017, many of the city's refugees returned and in February of 2020, history declared that the last remnants of the Battle of Aleppo were defeated.
Do you know how absurd it is, today, that "What is Aleppo" all but ended a presidential candidate's run?' 99% of Americans don't know where Aleppo is now.
So with the 2024 Presidential Election approaching, it's time to hold Joe Biden's feet to the fire. At his next press conference...
You're interrupting me, saying that Biden's only had one this year and less than any other president in modern history?
Okay, at his next press conference...
You're interrupting me again, saying that Biden's handler's are limiting press access?
Okay, okay, at his next press conference...
You're interrupting me, yet again, saying there are NO scheduled press conferences in the future?
<sigh>
How about this? Biden goes on FoxNews, no notes, no pre-questions, the only limitations are the topics have to be related to current events.
Question #2: Mr. Biden, are you worried about Ben-Gurion International Airport being overrun?
Question #3: Mr. Biden, are you worried about the fires in Central British Columbia that continue to affect US air quality?
Question #4: Mr. Biden, are you concerned that if tensions escalate that NATO may have trouble defending the Suwalki Corridor?
Question #5: Mr. Biden, are you concerned that the fight in the Zaporizhzhian Oblast has seemingly disintegrated into a stalemate.
I wouldn't even ask about Hunter Biden, because that's probably the only question Biden would prep for with a hostile cable outlet. I would only ask open ended questions about events on the ground, not tabloid fodder.
Or, better yet, instead of Fox, let Biden do a sit down with a young, hungry reporter that would literally spin the President around, someone like Wendell Husebo at Breitbart.
Let's treat politics like a game show and put Biden in front of a panel while they blurt out questions-
That's not fair? Why am I so mean?
It's not the press' job to protect the president, it's their job to hold the president accountable--
You're saying Trump is pushing 80 and we should do that to him, too?
I don't care. Have at it.