As U.S. President Joe Biden spoke about the need to support Ukrainians in their fight against the Russian invasion of their country, lawmakers and officials also showed their support for Ukraine through their attire.
Dozens of lawmakers, including Democratic lawmaker Lori Trahan and Republican congresswoman Victoria Spartz, who is Ukrainian-American and who was born in Ukraine, attended the speech wearing blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
Jill Biden, the first lady, also participated in the fashion diplomacy. She wore an embroidered applique of a sunflower, Ukraine's national flower, on her dress sleeve in a sign of support for the country's people, the White House said.
Other lawmakers carried miniature Ukrainian flags, at times waving them around to demonstrate support for the president's remarks.
The speech was dominated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Biden assailed Russian President Vladimir Putin, barred Russian flights from American airspace and led Democratic and Republican lawmakers in a rare display of unity.
First-term Republican lawmaker Lauren Boebert, dressed entirely in black, issued a different message on Tuesday with her clothes: "Drill Baby Drill" scrawled in gold across a black shawl, urging an increase in U.S. energy production.
POOL
The congresswoman for Colorado interrupted the President as he spoke emotionally about his son Beau who was deployed to Iraq.
He spoke of “burn pits” and suggested these caused troops to acquire "a cancer that would put them in a flag-draped coffin."
Boebert could be heard yelling “You put them in. Thirteen of them" in the background.
EVELYN HOCKSTEIN
Elsewhere, Marjorie Taylor Greene joined Boebert as the pair shouted "build the wall" to show their displeasure with Biden's immigration policy. "Sit down," shouted a Democratic lawmaker in response.
