Dat Bridge Be Closed, Yo

About

Dat Bridge Be Closed, Yo refers to a meme made by conservative Twitter / X user Elijah Schaffer (@ElijahSchaffer) in March 2024 that shows Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott with a top caption reading, "Dat Bridge Be Closed, Yo," referencing Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse. Schaffer's use of AAVE in the meme was perceived by many online as undermining Mayor Scott by singling out his Blackness, adding to a precursor, bigoted discourse regarding Mayor Scott's press conference directly following the bridge collapse. Schaffer notably amassed backlash for the meme on X from many users going into late March 2024, though some argued it was a reference to the Pool's Closed meme.

Origin

On March 27th, 2024, X^[1] user @ElijahSchaffer tweeted a meme with Baltimore's Mayor Brandon Scott that had a top caption reading, "Dat Bridge Be Closed, Yo." The tweet received over 21.7 million views and 15,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Spread

Soon after the post's upload, it received criticism and negative reactions via quotes from many users, like one shared by X^[2] user @myfaultOG23 on March 27th, 2024, who said, "mind you.. the Mayor hasn’t done anything wrong except apparently be black," gaining over 67,000 likes in a day (shown below, left).

Also on March 27th, X^[3] user @Sturgeons_Law criticized Schaffer's usage of "a certain kind of white attempt at Black American English," amassing over 42,000 likes in a day (shown below, right).

Others on X resurfaced memes about Schaffer's mom who passed away and became the center of much criticism and memes following other controversial posts by Schaffer prior in 2024.^[4] For instance, on March 27th, 2024, X^[5] user @brndxix shared a scene from the Scary Movie franchise, captioned, "me and the mayor of baltimore after digging up ya moms," earning over 53,000 likes in a day (shown below).

me and the mayor of baltimore after digging up ya moms https://t.co/97Rm0PUqXq pic.twitter.com/vgFhFaVMIO

— brandon* (@brndxix) March 27, 2024

Later on March 27th, 2024, @ElijahSchaffer responded to the backlash with a post on X^[6] in which he portrayed disappointment. The tweet gained viral replies, like one shared by X^[7] user @TheSaurus831, receiving over 1,500 likes in a day (shown below).

As the meme garnered backlash in late March 2024, several users on X argued that it was an attempt at referencing the Pool's Closed meme, though this is unconfirmed.^[8][9][10]

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References