Netizens Mock Donald Trump With ‘#SleepyDon’ After He Reportedly Fell Asleep at Hush Money Trial

Former President Donald Trump is facing a wave of mockery on social media for allegedly dozing off during the initial stages of his hush-money criminal trial in New York, according to The Independent. Despite the world's attention being fixed on Trump's significant criminal trial unfolding in New York, Trump himself seemed less captivated by the trial. Trump made an appearance at Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday for the commencement of jury selection. However, he reportedly nodded off multiple times shortly after the proceedings commenced.

An X user shared the news clip by CNN and wrote, "OMG. Journalist Maggie Haberman just confirmed further that Donald Trump FELL ASLEEP in court today “Trump appeared to be asleep. His head would fall down… He didn’t pay attention to a note his lawyer passed him. His jaw kept falling on his chest.” Wow." Another person questioned, "If he can't stay awake in his own criminal defense trial, how can America expect him to stay awake during a national security briefing?" A third person wrote, "That is most likely because they had to drug him to the gills to get him to the courtroom and to keep him from disrupting the proceeding."

A fourth person said, "He doesn't care if he falls a sleep in court. Trump doesn't think the laws apply to him that he can just do what he wants and we all need to get over it. Trump is no longer President and just like any of us have to pay the price if we to break them." A fifth person tweeted, "Bro don’t even care about the trial. That’s why Trump stands on business."  

Moreover, as he exited the courtroom for an afternoon recess, the former President reportedly fixed a prolonged and intense gaze at Haberman, who had described in a blog post how Trump's head would frequently droop down and his mouth would slacken during the trial. However, Haberman was not the only one who made this claim; investigative reporter Susanne Craig also stated that she saw Trump nodding off in court. During an interview, Craig mentioned observing the former President with his head bowed before it suddenly jolted back up at one point, as per Newsweek's report.

Trump is currently facing 34 felony counts in New York, accused of falsifying business records to hide a payment made to an adult film actress, Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors alleged that the payment was intended to secure Clifford's silence regarding an affair with Trump. Clifford asserted that the affair happened in 2006, merely a year after Trump married his current wife, Melania. However, Trump refuted the allegation, pleading not guilty to all charges. 

The former POTUS has also entered not-guilty pleas in his other three criminal cases. Trump contended that all his legal troubles were part of a Democrat-led witch hunt, which he claimed amounts to election interference as he vies to reclaim the presidency in November. Meanwhile, the Trump campaign strongly refuted rumors of his brief courtroom nap. They said in a statement, “This is 100% Fake News coming from ‘journalists’ who weren’t even in the court room.”