WEST PALM BEACH — President Donald Trump’s May 1 appearance in West Palm Beach drew a protest crowd that was smaller in size but as critical in spirit as those at the “No Kings” events staged across Palm Beach County in the past year.
About 150 people had gathered along Okeechobee Boulevard in near-90 degree heat by the time the president had arrived to speak to the Forum Club at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts.
They carried American flags and signs that opposed the president’s war in Iran, his enforcement of laws against immigrants in the U.S. without documentation and his administration’s slow release of the files pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein, the Palm Beach financier and sex predator who once was Trump’s friend.
One woman faulted the Forum Club, which describes itself as a nonpartisan political and public affairs association, for inviting Trump to speak in the first place. The outspoken conservative and Palm Beach resident is the first president to address the club, founded in 1976, while in office.
“Shame, shame, shame on the Forum,” a woman shouted, waving an American flag.
Heat, traffic can’t keep Trump opponents from Forum Club protest
Protest organizers acknowledged the heat wave that struck South Florida didn’t work in their favor in terms of bringing out a crowd that rivaled the “No Kings” protests that filled PGA Boulevard and the Meyer Amphitheatre. Neither did the late-day, weekday start time.
They came because they felt they had to be there anyway, like the five protestors from the activist group Palm Beach Indivisibles who stood in front of the Kravis shortly before 4 p.m. with signs and a megaphone.
The group shouted slogans at heavy pre-rush-hour traffic along Okeechobee as they waited for more protesters to join.
“We’re tired. We’re sweating,” said Lacy Lawson of Palm Beach Gardens, who said she and others had started the day protesting in recognition of May Day, which calls attention to the conditions of workers worldwide.
“But you know what? Democracy is in danger,” Larson said, adding: “We have to be the voice for everyone.”
Security tight on Okeechobee prior to Trump’s Forum Club speech
May 1 marked Trump’s first ballroom speech since the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on April 25, when law-enforcement officials say a man charged a security checkpoint in an apparent attack on the president.
As such, security was elevated in advance of his arrival. Concrete barriers lined the street hours before Air Force Once touched down at Palm Beach International Airport, and SWAT team members swept the area near the performing arts center.
Most of the protests took place on the south side of Okeechobee across the roadway from the Kravis, where Trump arrived at about 7:45 p.m., 90 minutes than planned after an earlier speech in The Villages, and spoke until about 9 p.m.
A couple held a white banner reading “CORRUPT” in red letters alongside an image of Trump’s face. One woman in a walker carried a balloon depicting Trump as a baby in a diaper — until a gust of wind carried it away, drawing boos from the crowd.
Another large banner read “Swamp Monsters.” A group held photos of Trump seated next to Jeffrey Epstein. One sign read: “Real conservatives defend the Constitution.”
A second group stood at Okeechobee and Parker Avenue, near Howard Park, holding signs and waving at at passing cars.
Barkley Garnsey of Boynton Beach said he came out because he was “trying to show up” and speak out.
“I’m just hoping people realize that this is messed up, what goes on,” he said.
Some wonder if Trump will notice protests on TV newscasts
By 5 p.m., a crowd of more than 50 people stood outside the Kravis. Jack and Brenda Stepongzi said they drove an hour south from Port St. Lucie to attend.
“We need a change,” said Jack, who grew up in West Palm Beach and who a hat that read “TACO” — an acronym for “Trump Always Chickens Out.” “We can’t afford to keep going like this.”
Ann, a retired teacher who declined to give her last name as she stood near Okeechobee and Parker, said Trump was “a child” who didn’t care what individual protesters think, but that a show of resistance might have some effect.
“Trump‘s not going to see us, but he does watch TV,” she said.
Andrew Marra is a reporter at The Palm Beach Post. Reach him at amarra@pbpost.com.
Valentina Palm covers immigration and West Palm Beach for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@pbpost.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @ValenPalmB.
Hannah Phillips covers criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism and subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump Forum Club speech draws protesters despite heat, traffic
Reporting by Andrew Marra, Valentina Palm and Hannah Phillips, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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