Gary Johnson Would Rather Be Shot Than Vote for Hillary or Trump

Gary Johnson Would Rather Die than Vote for Hillary or Trump

by Aya Katz

Gary Johnson has had a very busy time of it lately. After not recognizing the name of the ancient city of Aleppo in a recent interview, the Libertarian Party presidential candidate has been on the defensive in nationally televised appearances re-hashing that gaffe. However, it may well be that the additional publicity and the poise and humility that Johnson has mustered to deal with this flap will actually rebound in his favor.

While Johnson is aware of the problems in Syria and has a well-articulated policy of non-intervention, his unfamiliarity with Aleppo by name is not too different from the outlook of many ordinary Americans. Clearly, Hillary Clinton knows where Aleppo is, but that is because of her intimate involvement in the policies that have led to the current problems in Syria. Johnson’s relative innocence is a point in his favor, not a disqualification. But Johnson does have a very good grasp of what is really at stake in the 2016 election. When asked who he would vote for if someone had a gun to his head, Hillary or Trump, Johnson replied. “I’d let [the gun] go off.”

That is the best possible answer to that question, and not only for Gary Johnson, but for all of us. Most Americans do not want Hillary Clinton to be the next president. Most do not want Donald Trump. But we are constantly bombarded by the idea that we have no choice but to vote for one of them. It is no choice when it is between a crooked warmonger who profits from the death of servicemen and wants our guns taken from us, and a crooked businessman who got rich on eminent domain land grabs and recurrent discharge in bankruptcy, who wants to build a wall at our border to keep others out and ourselves in. The ugliness of either choice is so disheartening that many people just throw up their hands in despair. Why should anybody have to make that kind of choice? Why must it come to that?

Who cares if in a moment of distraction Johnson could not quite remember about Aleppo? The question is not whether Gary Johnson is perfect in every way. The question is: wouldn’t you rather have an honest man as president? Wouldn’t you rather have someone who is not studying the map to decide where the next world war will take place? Wouldn’t you rather have someone who will leave us alone to live our own lives in our own way?

That ultimately is the choice we face. Don’t let anyone put a gun to your head and make you choose between Hillary and Trump, when you could choose Gary Johnson instead. Johnson will be on the ballot in all fifty states. This time, we do have a choice.

Watch below: