Social media users are sent into a frenzy after some courtroom reporters notice that the former president appeared to struggle to keep his eyes open and fall asleep at the criminal trial.
- Apr 15, 2024
AceShowbiz - While all eyes are on Donald Trump's historic criminal trial which gets underway in New York, at least one person seems to be less excited by the proceedings. The former president has been caught dozing off on the first day of his criminal trial on charges of falsifying business records.
Jury selection got underway on Monday, April 15, during which Trump appeared in court. However, according to some courtroom reporters, the 77-year-old appeared to struggle to keep his eyes open and at one point may have even fallen asleep.
"Trump appears to be sleeping. His head keeps dropping down and his mouth goes slack," New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman reported. The observation quickly inspired new nicknames for Trump, with people proposing puns like "Sleepy Don," "DonSnorlene" and "The Nodfather."
"My theory: Trump's legal team sedated him," Mother Jones DC bureau chief David Corn wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Looks, he's old. The judge is keeping Sleepy Don from his nap time," Meidas Touch editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski posted.
The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump Super PAC, speculated, "#SleepyDon was up late rage-posting on Truth Social." The account Republican Voters Against Trump posted, " 'Sleepy Joe' is [a] projection, like everything else," after Trump has proudly branded his 2024 rival Joe Biden "Sleepy Joe" ahead of the 2024 election.
"I prefer Presidents who don't fall asleep before the lunch break in their hush money paid to a porn star election interference trial," another user mocked the 45th POTUS. Someone else weighed in, "If Sleepy Don is too low energy to stay awake during the first day of his criminal trial, does he even have the stamina to be President?"
Trump has not responded to the mockery, but he was seemingly aware that reporters exposed him as a sleepyhead during the trial. Per the press room report, after jurors left the courtroom during an afternoon break, the former "The Apprentice" star stared at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, then turned his eyes to the press pool and glared at reporter Haberman for several seconds as he walked out.
