TAMPA, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis held a press conference in Tampa on Tuesday to discuss progress with traffic projects in the Tampa Bay area.
At the end of the press conference, the governor took questions from the room. One of the questions asked was in reference to the new law requiring street murals to be removed from Florida roads and crosswalks under new FDOT guidelines.
WATCH Gov. DeSantis' full comments on street mural removals
Gov. DeSantis said, in part, "We don't want to be in a situation where we're playing whack-a-mole saying, 'Oh no, well that mural's fine, but that's not. We think, we think the pedestrians may get confused there. We think a driver — oh no, that's fine — this.'"
He continued, "Because, you know, then you get into, 'Oh, is this a content thing?' and all that. No. We're just not doing it."
City of Tampa crews will begin removing nearly 50 painted street murals this week, including the Back the Blue mural outside the Tampa Police Headquarters.

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