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Biden Said 6,114 Military Service Members Died From Covid. The Real Number Is 7.

September 9, 2020

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden inflated the number of U.S. military service members who have died from coronavirus by a factor of approximately 1,000.

"Military COVID infected: 118,984. Military COVID deaths: 6,114. Folks, every one of these lives mattered," Biden said at a rally in Warren, Mich.

He did not cite a source for the 6,114 number, but it is off by 6,107, according to the Department of Defense's website. The number of military deaths is seven and the number of combined deaths between military, civilian, dependent, and contractor Department of Defense employees is 90.

The department has also experienced a total of more than 58,000 infections, with just over 1,240 hospitalizations.

Biden read the number off of what he said was a "schedule" that he carries with the number of troops who have died or been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with daily updates on coronavirus case and death counts in United States and among the U.S. military.

CNN national security reporter Ryan Browne called attention to the error on Twitter.