ABC News Now Fact-Checking ABC News

Kamala Harris’s statement during her debate against President Donald Trump blew up in her face.

It was about there being zero U.S. troops in combat zones this century.

Well, that didn’t quite land the way she hoped.

Not sure who gave her that information but it sure backfired.

(I wonder if it was intentional, to make her look foolish. Rumors are the powers that be want to remove her.)

Critics were quick to point out the reality: American soldiers are still in harm’s way across the globe.

And one of those critics was even ABC News, the network that actually hosted the debate!

So next time, maybe she could do a quick google search beforehand.

When you’ve lost ABC….damn you know it’s bad pic.twitter.com/1BlT5AAGsE

— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) September 16, 2024

I wonder if they were forced to admit that Kamala was wrong because of a video that went viral, with 11 million views, debunking her claim:

Kamala Harris just got hit with the biggest fact check in human history pic.twitter.com/LDeniMIO88

— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) September 13, 2024

Fox News reports:

Critics have offered a fact-check on Vice President Kamala Harris’ claim that the U.S. has “not one member of the United States military who is on active duty” in a combat zone “for the first time this century,” indicating that the statement is misleading.

Harris made the claim in Tuesday’s debate with former President Trump. While her phrasing left room for interpretation, it is clear that there are U.S. troops in harm’s way around the globe.

“As of today, there is not one member of the United States military who is on active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world, the first time this century,” Harris said during the Presidential Debate on ABC.

The Pentagon told Fox News Digital service that members are stationed in various dangerous locations but noted that those deployments are made by the Executive Branch and not due to wars declared by Congress.

“An aspect of military service includes serving in locations where hostile actions may occur,” a Defense Official said. “Those locations are designated by executive order and/or the Secretary of Defense.”

“However, it’s important to note that just because a service member is in one of these locations does not mean they are engaged in war,” the official added. “The U.S. is not currently engaged in a war and does not have troops fighting in active war zones anywhere in the world.”

Mark Montgomery, a retired rear admiral and senior director for the Center on Cyber and Tech Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracy, told Fox News Digital that the U.S. has “quietly shut down designations of war zones over the past few years.”

“I would ask: Is anyone getting combat-related hazardous duty pay?” Montgomery added. “The answer is yes,” and noted Syria as an example.

The Pentagon did not comment on whether troops in countries such as Syria, Jordan or Iraq or on other bases around the Middle East have received hazardous duty pay over the past 10 months as Iran has backed proxies including the Houthis and Hezbollah.