Former President Donald Trump has conjured up an inflammatory false claim about Vice President Kamala Harris’ policy positions — baselessly saying Friday that Harris is talking about forcing Americans to serve in the military.
Trump claimed at a rally in Las Vegas that voting for Harris means voting for war with Russia and voting to bring back the draft, a system in which some men are conscripted into involuntary service in the armed forces.
Trump continued: “Would anybody like to be drafted, in the audience? Because that’s what they’re doing. She’s already talking about bringing back the draft. She wants to bring back the draft, and draft your child, and put them in a war that should never have happened.”
Facts First: Trump’s claim is false. Harris is not talking about bringing back the draft and has not put forward any proposals to bring back the draft.
Trump’s campaign did not respond Saturday to CNN’s requests for any evidence for his claim. A Harris campaign aide said, “We have no idea what he’s talking about.”
The US has not had a draft since 1973, the year it completed its military withdrawal from Vietnam. (Trump received five draft deferments during the Vietnam War draft, four because he was a college student and a fifth on account of a doctor’s diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels.) Since 1973, the country has used an all-volunteer force.
Regardless of the wishes of any president, launching a new draft would require Congress to pass legislation.
The current situation
Almost all male US citizens and non-citizen immigrants ages 18 through to 25 are already required by law to register in a federal database system, the Selective Service System, so that they could potentially be conscripted into the military if another draft eventually happened.
It’s entirely unclear what prompted Trump to make his Friday claim, but there has been some media coverage related to the Selective Service System in recent months. Members of Congress have been debating separate proposals to automatically register men for the database when they turn 18 — some men currently have to register manually, though registration is mandatory — and to start requiring women to register.
Both proposals face significant congressional opposition and may well fail to become law. Regardless, they are not proposals to revive the draft, and, more to the point here, Harris herself certainly hasn’t called to revive the draft.
