Footage of Donald Trump appearing to fall asleep at the Republican National Convention stirred up social media users with some claiming he was praying.
On Monday (July 15), the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin kicked off with Donald Trump having a moment that went viral for the wrong reasons. Despite the standing ovations and constant attention bestowed upon him in his first public appearance since the attempt on his life at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania last Saturday (July 13), at one point he appeared to fall asleep.
The moment was captured during MSNBC’s primetime coverage of the convention, helmed by a panel of Joy Reid, Rachel Maddow, Alex Wagner, and Lawrence O’Donnell. Maddow brought attention to Trump, seated in the VIP box with his eyes closed and viewers seeing them both on a split screen. Those who support Trump went on the offensive, claiming that the moment was captured during a moment of prayer being held in the FiServ Forum during that time. In posts on X, formerly Twitter, defenders of Trump actively used the Community Notes feature introduced by owner Elon Musk to add that correction to posts containing the video.
Others, however, publicly disputed that idea, noting the length of time that Trump appeared to be asleep. They also called out how some media outlets had been pushing the narrative of President Joe Biden being too old and too slow to be commander-in-chief. Biden is 81, while Trump is 77. The moment of Trump’s reported nodding off was a sharp contrast to when convention attendees first saw Trump arrive, with his right ear clad in a white bandage as he strode out to the VIP box in the arena.
Trump has had a moment where he was caught napping before. It took place during the election interference “hush money” trial involving adult film star Stormy Daniels in May, with one journalist capturing the moment Trump slept in a thread on X, formerly Twitter.
We’ve collected some of the more popular reactions to Trump’s reported dozing on social media below.
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Photo: Getty