Dozing At Trial, Trump Again Draws Widespread Mockery

@crgibs
Dozing At Trial, Trump Again Draws Widespread Mockery

Former President Donald Trump, evidently asleep during New York court proceedings on April 30, 2024

Image by Jane Rosenberg/REUTERS

During part five of former President Donald Trump's ongoing criminal trial, the 45th president of the United States appeared to once again nod off during witness testimony, as he reportedly did multiple times last week.

MSNBC producer Kyle Griffin tweeted that Trump was having trouble staying awake during court proceedings, writing that he "appears to have fallen asleep while listening to testimony — at times appearing to stir and then falling back to sleep."

"Trump's eyes were closed for extended periods and his head has at times jerked in a way consistent with sleeping," he tweeted.

MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin corroborated the network's reporting on Trump "sleeping" in court, confirming that the former president was indeed "sleeping through a lot of" the trial.

"They tried a number of different devices to keep Trump awake, partially in response, or what appears to be in response to collective press corps observations," Rubin said. "When there are sidebars, an attorney doesn't leave his side anymore, because leaving him alone means leaving him to potentially sleep. He has a stack of papers with him at all times now to go through. But neither of those things seem to have protected Trump from his own exhaustion today," she added. "More than not, when I looked up to see how Trump was receiving the testimony, Trump was not receiving it all, because his eyes were closed."

The report of Trump supposedly dozing off drew a flurry of reactions on social media, with users on X (formerly Twitter) ridiculing the ex-president over his apparent inability to remain conscious during the proceedings that will determine his freedom.

Video journalist Aaron Rupar quote-tweeted Griffin's post and inferred that the response from media outlets would likely be an uproar "if Joe Biden did this."

Liberal YouTube commentator Brian Tyler Cohen opined that Mike Lindell — the MyPillow CEO who remains one of the most outspoken 2020 election deniers — "has the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever." Attorney Bradley Moss piled on, asking his followers "can someone please get the old man a pillow or something?" Progressive pundit Mueller She Wrote offered a nickname for the former president fashioned after Marlon Brando's iconic mobster character: "#DonSnorleone."

"Such low energy," tweeted Bloomberg TV contributor Daniel Micovic in response to Griffin's original tweet.

Online Democratic fundraising platform Actblue even joined in on the fun with a campaign finance-related tweet, posting "Wondering if his fundraising numbers are keeping [Trump] up at night."

Progressive social media influencer Chris Mowrey simply responded with quotes from Trump himself. One quote he posted was "We cannot have a low-energy individual as our president." Another read, "He’s always tired, he’s always got the lids heavy."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

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