Orlando-area U.S. Congressman Maxwell Frost (D-FL) joined fellow progressive U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) Tuesday night in walking out on President Donald Trump’s joint speech to Congress, prompting several of their colleagues to follow suit, according to The New Republic.
Frost, a second-term Congressman and vocal critic of Trump, reportedly walked out early wearing a simple black T-shirt with the phrase “NO KINGS LIVE HERE” printed on the back — a reference to a recent social media post made by Trump where he compared himself to a king.
“Donald Trump is many things — a liar, a grifter, a wanna-be-dictator — but no matter how hard he tries and how many Republicans in Congress bend the knee and kiss the ring: He will never be king,” Frost declared in a statement.
His colleague Crockett similarly walked out in a t-shirt printed with the slogan “RESIST.” According to Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman, “a number of House Democrats” subsequently turned their backs on Trump, displaying their own “RESIST” shirts, and “a number of them” then walked out of the House chamber.
Now six weeks into his presidency, Trump’s joint address to Congress — a fairly standard affair for U.S. presidents — was soured for many this year by a slew of executive orders and other directives the Trump administration has made since his return to the White House targeting the federal workforce, undocumented immigrants, and diversity initiatives, in addition to disruptions so far to the United States’ relationships to some foreign governments and groups like the World Health Organization.
Related
Trump tried to freeze federal aid, then backtracked. Here’s how it could’ve affected Orlando (or might still)
Even so, Trump told Congress in his speech Tuesday night that he’s “just getting started.”
“We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years, and we are just getting started,” Trump claimed.
Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), unofficially led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, has caused chaos and confusion among federal agencies in a half-baked attempt to cut federal spending.
According to the American Federation of Government Employees — a labor union that represents federal employees — the Environmental Protection Agency is slated to cut 65 percent of its workforce under the Trump administration’s so-called “workforce optimization initiative,” while the Department of Housing and Urban Development is also expected to see major cuts. According to the Economic Policy Institute, more than 150,000 federal government employees who stand to be affected by workforce reduction efforts live in Florida, including roughly 17,000 in the Orlando metro area alone.
Protest through fashion last night at Trump’s speech was reportedly a theme, following a letter issued by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Monday urging his colleagues “to have a strong, determined and dignified Democratic presence in the chamber.” Several Democrats in Congress also wore pink to the speech Tuesday, with Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-New Mexico) explaining the fashion choice as an effort to “raise the alarm about the negative impacts (Trump’s) policies are having on women.”
“Our safety and security is at risk,” Leger Fernandez told the Washington Post. “They are cutting the programs to protect women who have suffered from rape, from domestic violence, from abuse.” Then there’s the new tariffs levied by the Trump administration on China, Mexico and Canada that one analysis estimates could cost the average U.S. family at least $1,600 or more per year, due to anticipated price hikes on imported consumer goods like clothing and vegetables.
U.S. Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) meanwhile went beyond fashion choice (or the silent sign-holding adopted by some other Democrats) by standing up in the House Chamber and interrupting Trump (or as CNN put it, “heckling”) during Trump’s opening remarks, ahead of Frost’s walkout.
Following several warnings, after refusing to sit back down, House Speaker Mike Johnson then called on the sergeant-at-arms to forcibly remove the 77-year-old Democrat from the Chamber. Green, who criticized Trump over floated proposals to defund Medicaid and Social Security programs, reportedly told the press afterward that he saw speaking up as the best way to “get across to a person who uses his incivility against our civility.”
Frost, for his part, similarly called out Trump for failing to address the needs of working families in his bit of political theater.
“Tonight, the American people saw a desperate liar stand in front of a podium and spit out excuse after excuse as to why he hasn’t been able to make your life better,” Frost shared in a statement Tuesday night. “Why he can’t make eggs cheaper, why he can’t lower housing costs, why the stock market is tanking under his watch, why innocent immigrants and trans people are to blame.”
It’s “all lies,” Frost said. “The people of this country are seeing right through the lies. We won’t let up.”
Related
Orlando area Rep. Maxwell Frost among Democrats denied entrance into the Dept. of Education building
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Bluesky | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
Related Stories
Orlando area Rep. Maxwell Frost among Democrats denied entrance into the Dept. of Education building
Trump tried to freeze federal aid, then backtracked. Here’s how it could’ve affected Orlando (or might still)
Orlando VA confirms ‘small number’ of job cuts under Trump administration’s sweeping cost-cutting initiative
This article appears in Mar 5-11, 2025.
