GARY JOHNSON: If I had to choose between Clinton and Trump with a gun to my head, I'd 'let it go off'

08.09.2016 19:08

Gary Johnson Screenshot/The View

Gary Johnson is having quite the day.

Following a disastrous interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" earlier Thursday, the Libertarian nominee and former New Mexico governor sat down with ABC's "The View."

Host Joy Behar asked him who he'd vote for between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump if he had a gun pointed at his head.

"I'd let it go off," Johnson replied.

Johnson's appearance on "The View" came after he asked on MSNBC, "What is Aleppo?"

Aleppo is a city in Syria that is among the hardest hit by the ongoing Civil War, and Johnson apparently wasn't familiar with the city when asked by contributor Mike Barnicle, who was stunned by his response.

The third-party candidate also faced a brutal back-and-forth with Behar, who called Johnson's answer about Aleppo a "disqualifying statement, frankly."

"Fair enough," Johnson responded.

"So will you get out of the race now?" Behar shot back.

"No," Johnson replied with a chuckle.

Johnson was later confronted about whether the gaffe was the end of his campaign.

"Well, gosh, I guess people will have to make that judgment," he said. "But, I will say that it is a process and I respect the process and for those that believe this is a disqualifier, so be it. You know, I've been really well served in my life by always telling the truth."

Behar called Johnson a "spoiler" in the vein of Ralph Nader, the Green Party candidate who might have swung the election in favor of President George W. Bush in 2000.

"Well, I genuinely believe that I have the opportunity to win at this point," he said, before Behar cut in and added that his polling isn't high enough to participate in the presidential debates.

Johnson's unfortunate gaffe came just one day after 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney suggested Johnson should be allowed to participate in the presidential debate.

The RealClearPolitics average of recent polls showed Johnson on Thursday with around 9% support, 6 percentage points away from qualifying for the debates.