A large painting that reads “Black Lives Matter” on a street one block from the White House is scheduled to be removed. However, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser continues to fend off “threats” from the Trump administration and Republican congressional leaders.
Bowser made the announcement via X on Tuesday (March 4). “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,” she said. “The devastating impacts of the federal job cuts must be our number one concern.”
She has already received criticism for her sentiment, particularly from those leading the Black Lives Matter movement. Nee Nee Taylor, a founding member of the D.C. Black Lives Matter affiliate, confronted Bowser on X on Tuesday, saying, “You never cared about Black Lives Mattering.” “Your painting of those words was performative.”
According to HuffPost, Bowser’s tweet reflects a “striking shift in tone toward Trump and congressional Republicans since the president’s first term in office.”
Bowser, a Democrat, commissioned the painting and renamed the intersection Black Lives Matter Plaza in June 2020, as a public act of defiance in response to George Floyd’s death and subsequent protests.
Her response to the public outcry brought her into direct conflict with Trump, who accused her of “losing control of her city” and threatened to “take over” the Metropolitan Police Department.
Despite failing to follow through, he used other forces to intimidate protesters.
Since his return to office, Bowser has attempted to avoid conflict with Trump, meeting with him to discuss their shared desire for federal employees to return to their offices full-time.
However, his efforts to reduce the federal workforce are affecting D.C.’s finances. There is expected to be a $1 billion budget deficit over the next three years.
Trump has also revived his interest in a federal “takeover” of Washington, D.C., but Bowser has yet to respond to reports of that executive order. She has also stated that the greatest threat to autonomy is “some of the people in Congress.”
