Joe Maupin of Louisville said “a lot of issues” brought him to Frankfort Tuesday. (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley)
FRANKFORT — Hours before President Donald Trump was set to address a joint session of Congress Tuesday evening, hundreds of protestors gathered at the Kentucky State Capitol to again voice their displeasure with the president’s administration.
About 500 people under the 50501 Movement umbrella assembled on the Capitol’s steps, the third such gathering in recent weeks. The latest protest comes on the heels of the public spat between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week. Since then, Trump ordered a pause on U.S. military aid to Ukraine.
Members of the crowd in Frankfort held Ukrainian flags along with signs opposing Trump and Elon Musk, the billionaire leading the controversial cost-cutting group Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Joe Maupin, from Louisville, said “a lot of issues” brought him to Frankfort Tuesday. He held a sign with the words “Support Ukraine,” but knows protecting reproductive health for women is an important policy area for his daughter.
“I’m a Navy veteran, and it just boggles my mind that this country would turn its back on Ukraine,” he said. “It just doesn’t make sense.”
Maupin attended a past protest in Frankfort and said he hopes they continue to grow. The 50501 Movement was founded by people discussing possible actions in a Reddit community after Trump’s second inauguration. . Since then, groups have held demonstrations at state capitols throughout the country to oppose the Trump administration.
