This archive report was first published on 20 June 2020.
On June 19, 2020, Vice President Mike Pence was interviewed by 6ABC Action News in Philadelphia, where he was asked directly if he would say that Black lives matter.
When asked, Pence declined to say the words 'Black lives matter', instead saying that 'all lives matter'. He stated, 'Let me just say that what happened to George Floyd was a tragedy... And in this nation, especially on Juneteenth, we celebrate the fact that from the founding of this nation we've cherished the ideal that all, all of us are created equal, and endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights. And so all lives matter in a very real sense.'
Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in America, which happened nearly a century after the nation's founding.
The distinction between saying 'Black lives matter' and 'all lives matter' has emerged as a cultural dividing line amid the nationwide discussion about racial equality.
When asked why he wouldn't say the words 'Black lives matter', Pence responded, 'Well, I don't accept the fact, Brian, that there's a segment of American society that disagrees, in the preciousness and importance of every human life.'
He went on to tout the Black unemployment rate pre-pandemic and the development of economic 'opportunity zones', adding that the administration is 'absolutely determined to improve' the lives of African Americans.
