Pete Buttigieg says he didn't understand context around phrase 'all lives matter' in 2015

[brooklynite]

CNN

Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg said Thursday that he was unaware when he said "all lives matter" in 2015 that the phrase was being used to undercut the Black Lives Matter movement.

Buttigieg spoke about his past comment after a speech at the National Action Network, a politically powerful organization founded by Rev. Al Sharpton. The phrase "all lives matter" has been used by critics of the Black Lives Matter movement to push back on the view that closer attention needs to be paid to the deaths of African American men and women at the hand of law enforcement.

"At that time, I was talking about a lot of issues around racial reconciliation in our community. What I did not understand at that time, was that phrase, just early into mid-2015, was coming to be viewed as a sort of counter slogan to Black Lives Matter," Buttigieg said. "And so, this statement, that seems very anodyne and something that nobody could be against, actually wound up being used to devalue what the Black Lives Matter movement was telling us."

He added: "That is the contribution of Black Lives Matter and it's a reason why, since learning about how that phrase was being used to push back on that activism, I've stopped using it in that context."

[RLG]

1. He should stop while he's ahead.

He's going down a slippery slope with this topic.

[IndyOp]

13. I very much want to hear more from Pete about racial justice and

he needs to address any issues regarding past behavior.

He still needs to emphasize positive plans, but he also needs to acknowledge when he has said something wrong in the past.

[femmedem]

14. His comments about racial justice begin at 19:30

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. It's not "could be." He is telling the truth. n/t

[BootinUp]

4. Sure?

[abqtommy]

6. I'd say that Pete

is getting a crash course in learning what to say and when to say it. The focus of this op along with other comments elsewhere on free college and charter schools indicate positions that I and perhaps others cannot/will not support. One good thing about primary season is that it will shake things up and out!

[marylandblue]

8. He's crafted a different style of communicating.

Unscripted but thoughtful, and taking more moderate but unconventional positions.

I think it's going to work because we are ripe for a real transformation in our politics. He's a really unconventional candidate so the regular rules don't apply to him, like they don't apply to Trump.

If he fails, it won't be because of what boxes he checks or doesn't check, but because people don't like this style.

[PeeJ52]

7. Honestly, that's what I thought too...

I thought Muslim lives mattered. I thought Hispanic lives mattered. I thought Jewish lives mattered. I thought Black lives mattered. I thought all lives mattered. I too at first was naive in thinking it was being used as a counter to Black lives matter. I soon saw the hatred with which it was spouted.

[marylandblue]

9. I know quite a few people who thought that way.

I had to explain the meaning to someone on DU yesterday. Language is funny. Innocent phrases become politically charged and trap the unwary. Things are so charged these days, no politician can avoid all the traps.

[Bradshaw3]

10. I believe him n/t

[demmiblue]

11. I also believe him.

And good on him for learning and growing.

[Ron Green]

12. Mayor Pete's level of communication, indeed his level of

thinking, is so much broader and deeper than that of the other aspirants, at least as moderated by the Teevee talkers, that he comes off as the adult - who happens to be younger than the rest. To admonish him that he needs to learn what to say and what not to say is to misunderstand the opportunity of a truly transformative administration for this country.

[JI7]

15. what matters is that he listens and learns

[patricia92243]

16. Well said!