The nation’s capital city will remove the large painting of the words “Black Lives Matter” on a street one block from the White House as Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser struggles to fend off threats of encroachment from both President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress.

Bowser pointed to the change on the social platform X on Tuesday, writing: “The mural inspired millions of people and helped our city through a painful period, but now we can’t afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional interference. The devastating impacts of the federal job cuts must be our number one concern.”

The move shows Bowser’s striking shift in tone toward Trump and congressional Republicans since the president’s first term in office. Bowser, a Democrat, ordered the painting and renamed the intersection Black Lives Matter Plaza as a public act of defiance in June 2020. It came after days of chaotic protests at that location over police brutality following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

  • @mkwt
    link
    1217 hours ago

    DC city government is fairly directly controlled by Congress. There’s not much of a firewall there. So I’m not really surprised.