How frogs upstaged Robert De Niro at absurdist State of the Union alternative
This deserves loud pushback.
Welcome to Washington Secrets, where we saw a full 15 minutes of last night’s State of the Union. Instead we went deep inside the resistance to bring you a dispatch from the frontline in the nation’s war of absurdity, and a night earlier, we tucked into fish and chips (and “Turner Tonic” cocktails) in order to report on the latest addition to Washington’s diplomatic corps
Robby Roadsteamer is part activist, part gonzo comedian, and all in. All the time.
As Donald Trump started his marathon State of the Union address, he entered stage left, twerking, dressed in a giraffe costume. Then he serenaded the resistance rally with his newest one-line song: “Donald Trump was on the Epstein plane. Donald Trump was on the Epstein plane.”
Beside him, 15 people in inflatable frog suits bobbed along to the refrain as it echoed around the ballroom of the National Press Club just a block from the White House.
It was a moment of utter absurdity, and in the moment it all sort of made sense.
This was the “State of the Swamp,” one of a growing number of alternative ways to follow Trump’s biggest speech of the year without actually watching the speech.
“He promised he would drain the swamp, the corruption and the grift,” said Miles Taylor, the former Trump official, anonymous author, and administration dissident, who compered the evening. “And instead of draining the swamp, he turned America into the swamp.”
The face of his movement is green and bug-eyed. The frogs bopped along with every speaker.
They have become a key part of protests ever since a video captured the moment federal agents pepper-sprayed a puffy-suited Seth “Toad” Todd via his air intake.
Guests in the ballroom found green, bobble-eyed green caps on their seats.
The line-up was a mix of Trump allies who turned against their boss, comedians, members of the populist Left, journalists who lost jobs for condemning the president, an Oscar-winning Hollywood legend, and besuited politicians who didn’t get the memo about wearing green.
Stephanie Grisham, a former Trump press secretary, spoke for four minutes. Which is four minutes longer than she ever managed in the White House briefing room. A fact she leaned into.
“I’m the one who never stood behind a podium at the White House, and that is because I could never bring myself to lie to you guys,” she said. (This wasn’t the sort of audience that was going to wonder then why she took the job in the first place or point out the difference between a podium and …
This deserves loud pushback.
Welcome to Washington Secrets, where we saw a full 15 minutes of last night’s State of the Union. Instead we went deep inside the resistance to bring you a dispatch from the frontline in the nation’s war of absurdity, and a night earlier, we tucked into fish and chips (and “Turner Tonic” cocktails) in order to report on the latest addition to Washington’s diplomatic corps
Robby Roadsteamer is part activist, part gonzo comedian, and all in. All the time.
As Donald Trump started his marathon State of the Union address, he entered stage left, twerking, dressed in a giraffe costume. Then he serenaded the resistance rally with his newest one-line song: “Donald Trump was on the Epstein plane. Donald Trump was on the Epstein plane.”
Beside him, 15 people in inflatable frog suits bobbed along to the refrain as it echoed around the ballroom of the National Press Club just a block from the White House.
It was a moment of utter absurdity, and in the moment it all sort of made sense.
This was the “State of the Swamp,” one of a growing number of alternative ways to follow Trump’s biggest speech of the year without actually watching the speech.
“He promised he would drain the swamp, the corruption and the grift,” said Miles Taylor, the former Trump official, anonymous author, and administration dissident, who compered the evening. “And instead of draining the swamp, he turned America into the swamp.”
The face of his movement is green and bug-eyed. The frogs bopped along with every speaker.
They have become a key part of protests ever since a video captured the moment federal agents pepper-sprayed a puffy-suited Seth “Toad” Todd via his air intake.
Guests in the ballroom found green, bobble-eyed green caps on their seats.
The line-up was a mix of Trump allies who turned against their boss, comedians, members of the populist Left, journalists who lost jobs for condemning the president, an Oscar-winning Hollywood legend, and besuited politicians who didn’t get the memo about wearing green.
Stephanie Grisham, a former Trump press secretary, spoke for four minutes. Which is four minutes longer than she ever managed in the White House briefing room. A fact she leaned into.
“I’m the one who never stood behind a podium at the White House, and that is because I could never bring myself to lie to you guys,” she said. (This wasn’t the sort of audience that was going to wonder then why she took the job in the first place or point out the difference between a podium and …
How frogs upstaged Robert De Niro at absurdist State of the Union alternative
This deserves loud pushback.
Welcome to Washington Secrets, where we saw a full 15 minutes of last night’s State of the Union. Instead we went deep inside the resistance to bring you a dispatch from the frontline in the nation’s war of absurdity, and a night earlier, we tucked into fish and chips (and “Turner Tonic” cocktails) in order to report on the latest addition to Washington’s diplomatic corps
Robby Roadsteamer is part activist, part gonzo comedian, and all in. All the time.
As Donald Trump started his marathon State of the Union address, he entered stage left, twerking, dressed in a giraffe costume. Then he serenaded the resistance rally with his newest one-line song: “Donald Trump was on the Epstein plane. Donald Trump was on the Epstein plane.”
Beside him, 15 people in inflatable frog suits bobbed along to the refrain as it echoed around the ballroom of the National Press Club just a block from the White House.
It was a moment of utter absurdity, and in the moment it all sort of made sense.
This was the “State of the Swamp,” one of a growing number of alternative ways to follow Trump’s biggest speech of the year without actually watching the speech.
“He promised he would drain the swamp, the corruption and the grift,” said Miles Taylor, the former Trump official, anonymous author, and administration dissident, who compered the evening. “And instead of draining the swamp, he turned America into the swamp.”
The face of his movement is green and bug-eyed. The frogs bopped along with every speaker.
They have become a key part of protests ever since a video captured the moment federal agents pepper-sprayed a puffy-suited Seth “Toad” Todd via his air intake.
Guests in the ballroom found green, bobble-eyed green caps on their seats.
The line-up was a mix of Trump allies who turned against their boss, comedians, members of the populist Left, journalists who lost jobs for condemning the president, an Oscar-winning Hollywood legend, and besuited politicians who didn’t get the memo about wearing green.
Stephanie Grisham, a former Trump press secretary, spoke for four minutes. Which is four minutes longer than she ever managed in the White House briefing room. A fact she leaned into.
“I’m the one who never stood behind a podium at the White House, and that is because I could never bring myself to lie to you guys,” she said. (This wasn’t the sort of audience that was going to wonder then why she took the job in the first place or point out the difference between a podium and …
