On Inauguration Day weekend, many Floridians gathered in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the start of President Donald Trump’s tenure. The Florida Republican Assembly’s Orange County chapter sent a bus caravan of over 50 Floridians from multiple counties to participate in a watch party held at Capital One Arena, where the ceremony was live streamed from the U.S. Capitol rotunda due to freezing cold temperatures.
Riders paid $220 per seat and spent nearly 24 hours on the road, with the first bus departing from Fort Lauderdale at 5 a.m. on Jan. 19 and arriving in Washington, D.C., at 3 a.m. the following day. Of the dozens that made the trip, a reported majority marched in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in 2021 as part of a similar caravan.
At Capital One Arena, caravaners heard speeches from SpaceX founder and Department of Government Efficiency appointee Elon Musk, FBI director nominee Kash Patel and President Trump. The group then departed for Florida at around 10 p.m. on Inauguration Day.
“We love spending time with each other,” said Joel DaVila, the Florida Republican Assembly’s grassroots coordinator. “We’re just here to say ‘God bless the United States, let’s have a good time, and let’s just take care of each other, because it’s really cold.’ ”