LuckyNumber7
Blue Crack Addict
I think it's a bit of a stretch to call that a "gotcha" question for a POTUS candidate.
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It's 100% a gotcha question. He's at first prompted to name a leader he likes. Given his libertarian ideology, there's not many leaders (if any) that would be described as such at the moment. No matter what identifiable answer he gives, it will likely contradict his stance. Heck, he named Angela Merkel. Well, just said "Merkel." Angela Merkel is not his favorite leader. He was obviously flustered and searching for an answer. Because Matthews was obviously forcing this question down his throat. He was rushing the question and catching Johnson in an aha! moment. It was very clear that Matthews wanted the Aleppo gaffe 2.0, and he got it.
But from the get-go it's a hard question for a libertarian to definitively answer. I'm not excusing him, as I definitely see this incident as disqualifying, but I'm not going to act as though you ever see what Matthews did being geared towards Clinton or Trump (Clinton obviously would have no issue with this question anyways). I mean, look no further than the Aleppo gaffe itself. Compare the two incidents. The Aleppo thing was one of shock, where the anchor can't believe what he's hearing. It was genuine. Chris Matthews in this case is very clearly walking Johnson into a minefield and then pushing him around.