Following scathing criticism for having said “all lives matter” to Black Lives Matter activists — and ridicule after he apologized for the inoffensive remark — Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley has clarified his position about whose lives actually matter.
It was on Saturday when O’Malley said “all lives matter” to the the group of protesters who hijacked the stage while O’Malley was being interviewed at Netroots Nation, a gathering for liberal activists. The former two-term governor impotently tried to respond to the protesters’ grievances but his words were drowned out and booed.
When O’Malley later went on a radio program to apologize for having made the claim that all lives matter, a new round of criticism and mockery was sparked.
On Monday, O’Malley delivered what he said were his final thoughts on the matter.
“I made a mistake when I said that all lives matter,” he said. “But I also made a mistake when I said I was sorry for having said that, so for that I apologize. It made me look like an indecisive panderer, which I’m not, or maybe I am, if that’s how the voters want me to be.”
“Here’s what I really believe,” he said. “My political life matters. I’ll say whatever it takes to keep it alive.”
“I’m only 52 for chrissake,” he added. “At 36 I was mayor of Baltimore. At 43 I was governor of Maryland. I’m too young to have my political career end without having been the Democratic nominee for president.”
After his candid reflection created more furor, O’Malley’s campaign released a statement saying that he had misspoken, and that what he had meant to convey was that, “All lives matter equally, but some matter more equally than others.”