Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. stifled a smile as he approached the podium for a speech about civil rights in Orlando, Fla., hearing the applause and whistles from a Hispanic group on the same day Republicans held him in contempt of Congress.

“I tell ya, it’s good to be here and not uh, not to be in Washington D.C. right now, you know?” Holder said on a video of the June 28 event.