Pete Buttigieg promises to stop saying 'all lives matter' after realizing what it really means

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said that he would stop using the phrase "all lives matter" because he has realized what it actually means to the "Black Lives Matter" movement.

The South Bend, Indiana, mayor was criticized by BLM proponents over a resurfaced statement in a State of the City address in 2015 where he used the phrase.

On Thursday he indicated that he has since come to understand how politically incorrect the phrase is.

"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 after giving a speech about racial injustice.

"And so, this statement that seems very anodyne and something that nobody could be against," he explained, "actually wound up being used to devalue what the Black Lives Matter movement was telling us."

He added that he would no longer use the phrase.

"Since learning about how that phrase was being used to push back on that activism, I've stopped using it in that context," he concluded.

Buttigieg has rocketed into the third place position among Democratic 2020 contenders, including Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Joe Biden. He also surprised many by raising $7 million in the first quarter's funding.

He also faced some criticism when he appeared to question Vice President Mike Pence's Christian faith during a CNN town hall event.

Here's the video of Buttigieg's comments:

Mayor Pete Buttigieg addresses "All Lives Matter" controversywww.youtube.com