“You know what, it’s been — yeah, no, I really, yeah.”

— Gary Johnson, in an interview with Independent Journal Review, when asked to show how to roll a marijuana joint.

From the New York Times:

In the Times interview on Wednesday, Mr. Johnson conspicuously sought to avoid another misstep. Asked if he knew the name of North Korea’s leader, Mr. Johnson replied, “I do.”

“You want me to name” the person, he said, then paused, before adding dryly, “Really.” But he declined to supply the name.

Gary Johnson defended his lack of knowledge of world affairs, suggesting that foreign policy expertise, or even an understanding of where international leaders are from, is what leads to military conflict, Politico reports.

Said Johnson: “You know what? The fact that somebody can dot the i’s and cross the t’s on a foreign leader’s geographic location then allows them to put our military in harm’s way.”

The Lid: “Gary Johnson hasn’t had a great few weeks. First, earlier this month, he helplessly asked an interviewer “What is Aleppo?” Then he failed to make the debate stage, missing a crucial chance to make his case in front of 80+ million viewers. And then last night, he again whiffed on a foreign policy question, stumbling through his inability to name a foreign leader he admires. Today, he doubled down, tweeting that he still can’t think of one. The increasing press coverage of Johnson’s impact on the race may have created the impression that he is gaining ground, but national polls actually show that his position (somewhere in the high single digits/low teens) has been very stable all summer.”

“That’s why the next set of credible national polls — coming this weekend or early next week – will be crucially informative for him, as well as for the other two campaigns from whom he’s siphoning voters. In our latest NBC/WSJ poll, Johnson’s support was at nine percent, but that share nearly doubled among millennials. If Johnson has weathered the last few weeks without taking a hit, it’ll be tough news for Clinton as she continues to try to pull young voters back into their traditional solid spot in the Democratic bloc.”

“Democrats panicked by third-party candidates drawing support away from Hillary Clinton are ramping up their attacks against Gary Johnson and warning that a vote for a third party is a vote for Donald Trump,” The Hill reports.

“Liberal groups are passing around embarrassing videos of Johnson and running ads against him warning about his positions on issues like climate change that are important to young voters and independents.”

“Gary Johnson was never supposed to be a problem for Hillary Clinton… But as national and battleground polls tighten and Democrats’ hand-wringing grows more urgent, operatives both within and allied with Clinton’s political operation who are looking around to explain Trump’s new polling strength are growing increasingly wary of the former New Mexico governor,” Politico reports.

“For now, Clinton’s national team and Democrats close to them chalk up Johnson-focused concerns to classic liberal panic, especially as they think his window is closing.”

“In a bid to propel his candidacy onto the presidential debate stage later this month, Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson is deploying an unusual advertising strategy to help him meet requirements for participation,” Bloomberg reports.

“The former New Mexico governor on Tuesday launched his first television ads of the 2016 campaign, almost exclusively targeting western states where libertarianism has stronger roots.”

To be included in the debates, Johnson needs to average 15% or higher in national polls.

“If Hillary Clinton carries Arizona in November, there’s a good chance it won’t be because Democrats on their own have flipped a reliable GOP state they hope to win consistently someday,” the AP reports.

“Instead, Clinton and Democrats may have Gary Johnson to thank. The Libertarian Party nominee’s best chance to influence the presidential race may come in Arizona, where the former New Mexico governor appeals to a group of finicky conservatives who make up part of the GOP base.”

Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson said it’s “game over” on any chance of winning the White House if he does not make it to the debate stage, Politico reports.

“Johnson would need to be at a 15 percent threshold to join Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on the debate stage. The Commission on Presidential Debates announced that the five polls it would use to determine that threshold are ABC-Washington Post, CBS-New York Times, CNN-Opinion Research Corporation, Fox News and NBC-Wall Street Journal.”

FiveThirtyEight: “Gary Johnson might be on the verge of becoming a household name. At the moment, he’s probably most often confused with that plumber who fixed your running toilet last month or your spouse’s weird friend from work who keeps calling the landline, but he’s neither — he’s the former governor of New Mexico, likely Libertarian candidate for president, and he’s polling at 10 percent in two recently released national polls against Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.”

“Given that Trump and Clinton are sporting historically high negative ratings, Johnson’s polling makes a fair bit of sense; Gary Johnson is neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton. He might not win a state, but he could make some noise.”

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson will run for president again as a Libertarian, Reason reports.

Earlier this week, Johnson announced his resignation as CEO of Cannabis Sativa, a company whose goal is to “to brand and market the highest quality, legal cannabis products available today – and to innovate the industry-leading products of tomorrow.”