House Republican Dismisses Concerns About Conditions on USS Abraham Lincoln: ‘I Don’t Make Much of It’

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) dismissed mounting concerns over the conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on Monday, telling Fox Business that he doesn’t “make much” of reports of supply shortages and mental health struggles among sailors during the carrier’s long stretch at sea.

The Lincoln’s conditions have come under mounting scrutiny as its deployment, which began in November and was initially expected to end in May, has stretched on amid the war with Iran. Sailors and their families have reported exhaustion, homesickness, food and supply shortages, and mental health struggles, while multiple sailors have reportedly attempted to jump overboard. The wife of a 19-year-old sailor who went overboard on Aug. 3 described the incident as a suicide attempt and accused the Navy of keeping her in the dark for four days after he was rescued.

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have largely dismissed reports of dire conditions, with Hegseth accusing the media of misrepresenting the situation and Trump saying sailors had been deployed “not nearly long enough.” Not to mention, on Monday, the president called the reporting on food shortages aboard the ship a “CNN fake report.” The wife of one service member, however, accused the administration of lying about the boat’s conditions, calling its denials “infuriating.”

Fallon, speaking with Fox Business anchor Cheryl Casone — in for the network’s Maria Bartiromo — on Mornings with Maria, emphasized Monday, “These reports are just that. I haven’t heard anything personally from our office, and I trust the Navy to, uh, do this as well. So, I don’t make much of it, to be honest.”

“Okay, so you’re not concerned about these reports,” clarified Casone. “260 days is a long time, you know, for a deployment.”

“There’s no doubt about it,” agreed Fallon, before noting that when he served in the Air Force, he and fellow troops “always prefer[ed] to be stateside if possible, but that’s part of the job.”

CNN’s Pamela Brown, who spent three days aboard the carrier in July, reported Sunday that conditions are more nuanced than either side has suggested, documenting “genuine hardship alongside genuine resilience” among the crew.

According to a Monday statement from Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao, the Lincoln “will return home soon.”

Watch the clip above via Fox Business.

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