Donald Trump Falling Asleep at Trial Sparks Flood of Mockery

Former President Donald Trump is being mercilessly mocked on social media after reportedly falling asleep during the first day of his hush-money criminal trial in New York.

Trump appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court court on Monday for the beginning of jury selection but repeatedly dozed off shortly after proceedings got underway, according to New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman and at least one other reporter who attended the trial.

While leaving courtroom for an afternoon break, the former president later reportedly glared for several seconds at Haberman, who had written a short time earlier that his "head keeps dropping down and his mouth goes slack" in a New York Times blog post.

Trump's purported snooze session was quickly highlighted on social media, with a number of prominent figures weighing in as the hashtags #SleepyDon and #SleepyDonald trended on X, formerly Twitter.

"I've never heard of a defendant falling asleep at his own trial, let alone on the first day," former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who was fired by Trump, wrote on X.

"Trump fell asleep at his criminal trial," posted lawyer and legal commentator Tristan Snell. "Looks like Sleepy Don is too old and low-energy to be president."

"You don't need to be a lawyer to know that when the defendant falls asleep during jury selection at his criminal trial, it does not leave a good impression on potential jurors," former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti wrote.

"Honestly, let him sleep," wrote social media personality Joanne "JoJoFromJerz" Carducci. "Wheel him into a fake Oval Office on the back nine of Trump National, tell him he's the president, hand him a Diet Coke and a hamberder, play a nature video, quietly close the door, and walk away. #SleepyDon"

"If Biden fell asleep in the middle of anything, it would be a major story," political historian Brian Rosenwald posted. "But this guy is on trial and falling asleep and I'm sure the headlines tomorrow won't be 'Snoozing Trump Raises Questions about Mental Fitness.'"

"To be clear, 'Sleepy Joe' is awake and criss-crossing the country, while Trump is literally asleep at his own criminal trial," posted liberal content creator Brian Tyler Cohen.

"Dropped a couple more bucks since the news broke that the bronzed geezer fell asleep in court," former federal prosecutor Ron Filipkowski wrote while sharing an image showing Trump Media stock losing value amid the news of Trump's purported napping.

Newsweek reached out for comment to Trump's office via email on Monday night.

In addition to Haberman, New York Times investigative reporter Susanne Craig also claimed to have witnessed Trump "nodding off" in court, saying during an MSNBC interview that she observed the ex-president with his "head nodded down" before it "sort of jolted back up at one point."

Trump is facing 34 felony counts in New York, accused of falsifying business records to conceal payment to adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford, better known as Stormy Daniels. The payment was intended to buy Clifford's silence about an affair with Trump, prosecutors said. Trump denies that an affair took place and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The former president has also pleaded not guilty to all charges in his other three criminal cases. Trump maintains that all of his legal woes are part of a Democrat-run "witch hunt" that amounts to "election interference" as he seeks to regain the presidency in November.