Donald Trump likes to call President Biden "sleepy Joe." That's one reason I find the reports of Trump falling asleep in court yesterday on the first day of his hush money/campaign finance violation trial so amusing.
Forbes has a summary of the reports of Trump's dozing that should put to rest any suspicion that this is fake news. Here's excerpts from "Trump Fell Asleep In Court -- Twice -- Reporters Say."
The New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman was the first to report on Trump’s seemingly exhausted manner, writing in the Times’ live blog of the trial around 12 p.m. that Trump’s “head keeps dropping down and his mouth goes slack.”
A short time later, Haberman wrote that “Trump has apparently jolted back awake” after “noticing the notes his lawyer passed him several minutes ago.”
“There have been other moments in other trials . . . where he appeared very still and seemed as if he might be sleeping, but then he would move,” Haberman told CNN. “This time he didn’t pay attention to a note his lawyer Todd Blanche passed him, his jaw kept falling on his chest and his mouth kept going slack.”
Multiple other reporters made similar observations, including Reuters’ Jack Queen, who wrote in an email chain between reporters watching the trial, that Trump “was leaning back in his chair with his arms folded and his eyes very much appeared to be closed for several minutes at a time” just before 3 p.m.
Queen said Trump appeared to be “dozing,” rather than “napping.”
Courthouse News reporter Erik Uebelacker also tweeted just after 12 p.m. “I swear Trump is nodding off . . . his chin just hit his chest, then his head shot back up,” while Law360 reporter Stewart Bishop wrote “it very much looks like Trump is dozing off right now.”
Trump’s adversaries quickly pounced on the observations, coining the nickname “Sleepy Don” on social media, borrowed from Trump’s “Sleepy Joe” nickname for Biden.
“There have been other moments in other trials . . . where he appeared very still and seemed as if he might be sleeping, but then he would move,” Haberman told CNN. “This time he didn’t pay attention to a note his lawyer Todd Blanche passed him, his jaw kept falling on his chest and his mouth kept going slack.”
Look, I'm a few years younger than Trump, and fairly often I start to fall asleep at unexpected times. That's normal for us old folks. But I'm not trying to be elected president of the United States, which requires a lot of energy and concentration.
(To those who say, "Biden is even older than Trump," that's true. I'd prefer that neither man be running for president in 2024. However, given that they are, I hugely prefer Biden over Trump.)
We mustn't lose sight of these astounding facts.
The Republican nominee for president will be spending the next several weeks in a courtroom at his criminal trial for falsifying business records in order to prevent the public from learning before the 2016 election that Trump paid hush money to cover up his having sex with a porn star, Stormy Daniels, less than four months after his wife, Melania, gave birth to their son Barron.
That money clearly was a campaign expense, yet it was billed as attorney fees. Plus, Trump also had an affair with Playboy model Karen McDougal while Melania was pregnant with Barron.
In days gone by, such behavior would doom a candidate's presidential aspirations. Yet Trump gets a pass from most Republicans for reasons I fail to understand. That's the bottom line for me: falling asleep at your criminal trial is funny.
Behaving like the lying, cheating, immoral asshole that Trump is -- that's scary, given that Trump has a good chance to beat Biden in November.
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