Donald Trump could be excused a sleepless night before becoming the first US president to go on trial on Monday, but his campaign team has categorically rejected claims he fell asleep in court.
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman told CNN that Trump struggled to stay awake and eventually dozed off as jury selection began at his secret trial in New York.
The claim sparked a wave of hashtags on social media and was echoed by the Biden/Harris campaign – long dogged by Trump’s nickname “Sleepy Joe” for the sitting president.
But the former president’s campaign team called it “100% fake news” who insisted he was the victim of a malicious media outlet.
“This is 100% fake news from ‘journalists’ who were not even present in the courtroom,” they said in a statement.
A nap in court? The ex-president looked red-eyed as he watched jury selection during his secret trial at Manhattan Central Court in New York on Monday.
Trump with his legal team, from left: Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and Susan Necheles
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman repeated this furiously disputed claim on CNN.
Jury selection is expected to last the rest of the week, as dozens of potential jurors will be tested for possible bias against the ex-president who faces 34 counts of falsifying records salespeople to hide payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels.
More than 50 were dismissed on the first day as Trump watched from his seat in Manhattan criminal court.
“Trump appears to be sleeping,” Haberman tweeted from the room.
“His head continues to lower and his mouth relaxes.”
Biden held back from commenting directly on his rival’s legal troubles, but the Biden-Harris HQ a committed and energetic candidate.”
Biden’s campaign team released a statement purportedly about the poll ratings titled “Wake up Donald: After stormy coverage of abortion ban, Trump poll memo attempts to quell panic.”
There was even less restraint on social media where hashtags such as “DonSnoreleone,” “The Nodfather” and “Sleepy Don” quickly went viral.
Journalists arrived early to be seated in an additional room to follow the proceedings
Anti-Trump protesters gathered Monday morning outside the courthouse.
Trump arrives for the first day of his trial for allegedly concealing hush money payments linked to extramarital affairs, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York.
The anti-Trump Republican Lincoln Project joked that “#SleepyDon was belatedly posting his rage on Truth Social.”
“He’s not changing his sleeping habits and he can’t have 10 Diet Cokes in the courtroom,” comedian Dana Goldberg joked. “He’ll fall asleep every day. Single. Day.’
“To me, it’s true, it’s insane,” Rachel Maddow told viewers on MSNBC.
“It’s also a reminder of how, even though it is scary and dark and important, it’s a reminder that we’re dealing with someone who is fundamentally buffoonish.”
But others have posted images of the numerous times the sitting president appears to have fallen asleep in public places.
The former president looked slightly pink-eyed in courtroom photos, but most reporters said Trump remained focused throughout.
“Donald Trump sat impassive, with narrowed eyes and pursed lips as his lawyers fought with prosecutors over how many salacious (and false) National Enquirer headlines could be shown to jurors and whether they could hear him say “grab them by their pussy. ***s’ or if they could only read the transcripts of the famous Access Hollywood tape, reported Rob Crilly of DailyMail.com.
“Trump dominated the space on his legal team.
“He leaned back in his chair or moved forward to look at a video screen, like a silverback gorilla reminding the courtroom who was boss.”
“When a decision went against him, such as when Judge Juan Merchan decided that he would not recuse himself, he briefly showed his frustration, giving a small, angry nod of his head.
“But at other times he gave the impression of a lawyer: eyebrows furrowed, head tilted as if considering the judge’s decision regarding the admission of Molineux’s evidence.”
News of the hostile reporting appeared to come back to Trump, who reportedly “stared” at Haberman for several seconds as he left the courtroom.
The case revolves around payments allegedly made to Stormy Daniels to hide an affair.
“He gave me a pretty specific look and walked out of the room,” she told CNN.
“I want to be clear that I have seen a lot of people fall asleep in courtrooms. I’ve seen jurors fall asleep. I’ve seen judges fall asleep.
“If someone falls asleep while they are criminally charged in a case, we will report it.
“But he doesn’t like it when such things are reported and I guess – I don’t know – that’s what it was about.”
dailymail us
