Fact Check: Harris Once Said, 'Ukraine Is a Country in Europe. It Exists Next to Another Country Called Russia'?

Claim:

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris once said, "Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine. So basically that's wrong."

Rating:

Correct Attribution ( About this rating? )

Context:

Harris made the statement in March 2022, responding to a journalist's request to explain the situation in Ukraine in layman's terms. She continued, "And it goes against everything that we stand for. There are terms that we use, we say, 'We respect the sovereignty, the territorial integrity of countries,' right? Their independence. Russia has gone into Ukraine militarily, unprovoked, with no justification other than to exercise its power to take over another country."

On July 21, 2024, after U.S. President Joe Biden stepped down as the Democratic candidate for the upcoming presidential election and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, numerous videos featuring Harris began circulating online. One of them allegedly included audio of Harris commenting on the Ukraine-Russia war, saying, "Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine. So basically that's wrong."

"Throwback to this gem," one X post captioned the video featuring Harris' statement, reaching more than 9.5 million views as of this writing. "It's like she's talking to 5 year olds," another X user wrote .

In summary, because Harris did indeed say the words in question, we have rated this claim as "Correct Attribution."

The statement was made in response to a journalist's request for Harris to explain the situation in Ukraine in simple language. She continued: "And it goes against everything that we stand for. There are terms that we use, we say, 'We respect the sovereignty, the territorial integrity of countries,' right? Their independence. Russia has gone into Ukraine militarily, unprovoked, with no justification other than to exercise its power to take over another country."

Harris made the viral statement March 1, 2022, during an interview with the radio show "The Morning Hustle" that has been uploaded to YouTube (the relevant portion begins at 3:00):

The journalist asked Harris to explain the situation in Ukraine in "layman's terms" — simple language anyone can understand.

"Break it down to layman's terms for people who don't understand what's going on and how can this directly affect the people of the United States," the journalist asked. The viral statement was a direct response to that question. However, Harris did not stop there and continued to explain terms such as "sovereignty," underscoring that "Russia has gone into Ukraine militarily, unprovoked, with no justification other than to exercise its power to take over another country."

Below is our transcription of the relevant part of the interview (emphasis ours):

JOURNALIST: For those who are just joining us, we're talking to Vice President Kamala Harris, and uh, if you're watching any level of news, even social media, you're seeing everything that's going on right now in the Ukraine. Break it down to layman's terms for people who don't understand what's going on and how can this directly affect the people of the United States.

KAMALA HARRIS: So, Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine. So, basically that's wrong. And it goes against everything that we stand for. There are terms that we use, we say, 'We respect the sovereignty, the territorial integrity of countries,' right? Their independence. Russia has gone into Ukraine militarily, unprovoked, with no justification other than to exercise its power to take over another country. So essentially that's what's at stake and we as America are saying that's wrong and we will stand with Ukraine in saying that that is wrong. But that's essentially where we are, that's essentially the issue. And when it comes to what we know to be principles of fairness, we know that what Russia is doing is wrong. When it comes to what needs to happen then, well there needs to be severe consequence and accountability, and that's why you'll hear on the news that we talk about sanctions, which is basically having Russia pay a financial cost to the point that we can have a real impact, put a real hurt on their economy as a consequence for their bad behavior, which is resulting in the loss of innocent lives. And that's where we are, that's what the issue is, essentially.

This isn't the first time we've investigated a claim involving Harris . For instance, in October 2020, we investigated whether Harris said of the nationwide protests against police brutality: "Everyone beware. They're not gonna stop before election day in November, and they're not gonna stop after election day … They're not gonna let up, and they should not." In July 2024, we debunked a video allegedly showing Harris saying, "Today is today and yesterday was today yesterday. Tomorrow will be today tomorrow. So, live today so the future today will be as the past today, as it is tomorrow."

Sources:

Definition of LAYMAN'S TERMS. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/layman%27s+terms . Accessed 22 July 2024.

Eifert, Sean. "Kamala Harris Never Said 'Today Is Today and Yesterday Was Today Yesterday.'" Snopes, 20 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/kamala-harris-today-is-today-speech/ .

Ibrahim, Nur. "Did Kamala Harris Say Protests Are 'Not Gonna Let Up, and They Should Not'?" Snopes, 7 Oct. 2020, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/kamala-harris-protests/ .

The Morning Hustle. Vice President Kamala Harris Says There Must Be Severe Consequences For Russia's Actions. 2022. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKjCSb9eixI .