Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday said he refused to push a "radical left agenda" by using the "Black Lives Matter" phrase.
"All my life, I've been inspired by the example of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. When I was in Congress, I traveled to his home church in Montgomery with Congressman John Lewis," Pence said during an appearance on CBS News' "Face the Nation."
"I walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday," Pence started to say in response. "I cherish the progress that we have made toward a more perfect union for African Americans throughout our history.
"And I've aspired throughout my career to be a part of that ongoing work. It's really a heart issue for me," he continued. "And as a pro-life American, I also believe that all life matters, born and unborn. But what I see in the leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement is a political agenda of the radical left that would defund the police, that would tear down monuments, that would press a radical left agenda, and support calls for the kind of violence that has beset the very communities that they say that they're advocating for."
When host John Dickerson intervened and asked, "Leave that out of it. Just the phrase," Pence responded: "John, I really believe that all lives matter. And that's where the heart of the American people lies."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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