Clinton Campaign Manager Robby Mook Repeatedly Fails To Answer Basic Questions About Clinton's Syria Policy

In a segment reminiscent of Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson's <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/09/08/gary_johnson_bombs_question_about_syria_and_what_is_aleppo.html">'And what is Aleppo?'</a> moment on the show last week, Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook appeared on Wednesday's edition of 'Morning Joe,' where he repeatedly told the hosts that he was not able to answer questions about Clinton's policy on Syria. "My job's not to set policy," Mook said. "You're here to speak for her," replied co-host Willie Geist. The segment comes to a head when host Joe Scarborough says: "We love you, buddy, but what are you here for if you can't answer basic questions? I mean, I don't know if there's a -- I mean, we may be tiptoeing into Gary Johnson territory here if you don't know the answer to that basic of a question. 'What is the response to Aleppo?' Then why do we have you here?" 'Correct The Record' head Brad Woodhouse responded sarcastically on Tiwtter: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">No shit. That was ridiculous and uncalled for. Book the policy director for that and the campaign manager to talk about how to get to 270. <a href="https://t.co/Nv74HgScmH">https://t.co/Nv74HgScmH</a></p>— Brad Woodhouse (@woodhouseb) <a href="https://twitter.com/woodhouseb/status/778587464688607232">September 21, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> "She came out of that office with a 70 percent approval rating. She in contrast to Donald Trump has released a clear and decisive plan to defeat ISIS. Donald Trump has said that he thinks he knows more about it than the generals and refuses to tell us what his secret plan is," Mook replied when asked if Clinton thinks President Obama's failure to act when his 'Red Line' was violated by the government of Bashar al-Assad helped make the situation worse. When asked again if Clinton was "disappointed" by Obama's failure to act, Mook replied: "I think you'd have to ask her about that question, how she would characterize it." An exastperated Willie Geist commented: "Well, you're here to speak for her, Robby. You haven't discussed that at all?" In response, Mook said: "Look, what matters is what she is going to do as president. As I said, she has a clear plan to defeat ISIS. Donald Trump does not. It's a secret. He won't tell anybody what it is and he says he knows more than the generals. I think the choice is clear." Next Mook ignored a question from panelist Mike Barnicle regarding the effort to bring humanitarian aid into the Syrian war zone, saying: "Again, I think you're going to have to ask her that question. That's a matter of policy and I'm going to leave it for her to determine that." Host Joe Scarborough then sternly asked: "We love you, buddy, but what are you here for if you can't answer basic questions? I mean, I don't know if there's a -- I mean, we may be tiptoeing into Gary Johnson territory here if you don't know the answer to that basic of a question. 'What is the response to Aleppo?' Then why do we have you here?" "I think -- look, you're asking new policy questions. You would have to ask the secretary for that," Mook said. "My job's not to set policy." "New?" Scarborough snapped. "Aleppo's been around for -- Syria's been around for some time. The red line being drawn has been around for some time. I'm not being difficult here at all. These are basic questions." Scarborough continued once the interview had ended: "So what's going on? I don't understand that. I'm completely flummoxed by that interview." "I mean, first of all, are they pleased with the openness with the press," he said. "I heard after the pneumonia deal they all were chastened and changing their relationship and trying to be more open with the press. Won't respond into Aleppo. Won't respond to the no fly zone. What's going on here? Better not to come on."