Ken Cuccinelli On ‘Black Lives Matter’: Adding ‘T-O-O’ To Slogan ‘Makes Sense’
Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli made headlines on Sunday during a heated panel discussion which focused on the “Black Lives Matter” slogan.
The panel discussion, which aired on CNN, placed Cuccinelli alongside Bakari Sellers, a former South Carolina representative.
Sellers may have escalated the tone of the discussion with his comments from the perspective of the only African-American person at the table.
“I’m the only person at this table whose next interaction may cause them to be a hashtag. It may be #BakariSellers and that’s something that we feel. That’s a very deep pain.”
During that point of the discussion, Sellers referred to several cases of alleged police brutality over the past year which led to the death of a black person — including Sandra Bland and Eric Garner.
#BlackLivesMatter: Just a “slogan”? @kencuccinelli @secupp @neeratanden & @bakari_sellers weigh in on #CNNSOTU http://t.co/8kc42W3VJA
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 26, 2015
The host of the CNN panel discussion, which was first shared online by Raw Story, then brought Ken Cuccinelli into the conversation.
Former Virginia AG Ken Cuccinelli talks about ‘Black Lives Matter’: http://t.co/lGzNhg1iFH ?? @YouTube
— ????? Ander (@Kashaev_Alex) July 26, 2015
Ken was asked to share his thoughts on why people resent the “Black Lives Matter” hashtag.
“I think the way that Bakari said it is actually very valuable. Adding ‘too’, T-O-O, at the end puts it in a context that makes sense.”
Sellers responded to Ken’s statement by saying that the message is already implied within the “Black Lives Matter” slogan in its current form. However, Cuccinelli replied that not everyone might see it the same way.
“You may say that. And there’s plenty of reason to understand that. But I don’t think every American hears it that way. They hear, ‘Here we are. Yes, we have this political motivation that we’re separating out this one category of Americans and saying they matter more than everybody else.’ “
Ken Cuccinelli further stated the importance of using the retort, “No, all lives matter” to make it clear that no one is being left out. Quite a few people have shared their responses and reactions to Cuccinelli’s statement on Twitter since the release of this footage.
Thanks for the laugh, Ken. From @HuffingtonPost: Ken Cuccinelli says #BlackLivesMatter is insulting to white… http://t.co/4osdBURouv — rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) July 26, 2015
I think the main problem is that Cuccinelli is adding an implicit “Only” to “Black Lives Matter.” http://t.co/PItqPoBVwp
— Jesse Taylor (@jesseltaylor) July 26, 2015
@jaketapper #BlackLivesMatter is about #HumanDignity, #HumanRights NOT #Politics! Both @KenCuccinelli & @Bakari_Sellers need to get a clue!
— Alia M. Shabazz (@AliaMShabazz) July 26, 2015
This is not the first time that Ken Cuccinelli has engaged in a heated discussion with the media or shared his controversial opinion on a highly-publicized topic. He discussed his disappointment in the legalization of same-sex marriage during an interview with NPR last month.
“Well, obviously, I was… severely disappointed, perhaps most so because this was another issue that’s literally been ripped from the states… We do our country no good by ripping these sorts of decisions that really should be done through the democratic process out of the people’s hands… which is how the court acted today. This isn’t good for our country and obviously, I’m not happy with the outcome either.”
In addition to serving as a former attorney general in Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli also ran for governor of the state as a Republican candidate in 2013.
[Image Credit: Win McNamee / Getty Images]