‘Every human life is precious’: Pence savaged after saying ‘all lives matter’ in interview

US Vice President Mike Pence has unleashed a wave of outrage and indignation on Twitter after saying “all lives matter” despite being repeatedly pressed to utter “black lives matter.” Every life is important, he argued.

In a sit-down with a Philadelphia ABC affiliate on Friday, reporter Brian Taff nudged Pence several times to repeat the slogan – which doubles as the name for a movement dedicated to fighting police brutality and racism in the US – asking “Can you say those words?”

“In this nation… we cherish the ideal that all of us are created equal and endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights,” Pence replied, quoting the preamble of the Declaration of Independence.

And so all lives matter in a very real sense.

Taff pressed the question further, suggesting some Americans do not agree with the phrase “black lives matter” and again asking the vice president to utter the words himself, but Pence refused to budge.

Well, I don’t accept the fact, Brian, that there is a segment of American society that disagrees in the preciousness and importance of every human life.

The exchange has sent an army of critics to Twitter, many taking Pence’s refusal to say the words as ironclad proof of bigotry.

“Pence cannot say ‘Black Lives Matter’ because they don’t matter to him or Trump. The simplest explanation is usually true,”said one detractor.

Congressman Ted Lieu (D-California) also shot back, explaining that “Of course all lives matter. So why do people say black lives matter? Because the system undervalues black lives.”

Some netizens sided with Pence, however, saying nobody should not be shamed into repeating a catchphrase “for press coverage,” voicing shock that a sentiment like “all lives matter” was getting people “cancelled.”

Stepping back from the partisan scuffle, one user took issue with Taff’s line of questioning, suggesting that instead of pressing the VP to mouth certain words, he should have followed up with something more substantial.

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement rose to prominence in 2014 following the police killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, both unarmed black men, leading countless street protests and marches against police brutality. More recently, the movement was again thrust into the headlines by the death of George Floyd, who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis in late May, kicking off hundreds of demonstrations across the US, many spearheaded by BLM activists.

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