ABC host presses Kamala Harris ally on VP's false claim about active US troops: 'Why would she say that?'

ABC News' Martha Raddatz pressed Gov. Maura Healey, D-Mass., on a false claim Vice President Kamala Harris made during the ABC debate on Tuesday, and asked bluntly, "why would she say that?"

"There is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world, the first time this century," Harris claimed during the debate.

ABC News' David Muir and Linsey Davis hosted the first presidential debate between Harris and Donald Trump on Tuesday. Davis and Muir fact-checked Donald Trump multiple times during the debate but failed to fact-check Harris at all.

"Our fact-checkers found that to be false," Raddatz said during the interview on Sunday. "There are currently 900 U.S. military personnel in Syria, 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq. All have been under regular threat from drones and missiles for months. We also have action in the Red Sea. Also, every single day, the Navy SEALs, Delta Forces special operators can be part of any sort of deadly raid." 

ABC's Martha Raddatz called out VP Kamala Harris for her claim that there were no U.S. troops in active duty in a combat zone during the debate, which is false. (Screenshot/ABC)

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"I think what’s important here, Martha, is that Kamala Harris, in contrast to Donald Trump, demonstrated herself to be commander in chief. We are in a world where there are all sorts of conflicts, and it’s all the more reason we need somebody who’s serious and who supports the military," Healey responded. 

Raddatz jumped in again and repeated what Harris had said.

"You say she demonstrated her ability to be commander in chief, but did she not know about these people in Syria and Iraq? Why would she say that?" Raddatz said. 

Healey argued that Donald Trump "stands with Vladimir Putin." 

Vice President Kamala Harris during the debate in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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"I think that’s what’s really important. Kamala Harris, she respects our military, she respects our service members. Donald Trump calls them suckers and losers," Healey said. 

Healey was also asked if Harris should draw a clear line on what restrictions she would support on abortion.

"She already did, Martha," Healey said. "What she said is, ‘let’s go back to Roe.’"

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ABC's Davis admitted in a post-debate interview that her fact-checking of Trump was influenced by the CNN debate that went disastrously for President Biden in June. 

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Davis said, "People were concerned that statements were allowed to just hang and not [be] disputed by the candidate Biden, at the time, or the moderators."