Trump's first day in court put "Sleepy Joe" to bed

Trump's courtroom snooze killed his chief talking point about Biden. With dozens of hours go, Trump may sink his own presidential campaign just by sitting in a courtroom.

The commentary on social media and among TV pundits about Donald Trump falling asleep during the first day of his first criminal trial in New York— charged with falsifying business records as he paid hush money to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign—has been uproarious and unstoppable.

Nodding off in court has permanently damaged Trump’s self-conceived public image in this presidential election. Here’s the guy who has been lambasting President Biden as “Sleepy Joe,” unable to stay awake himself while a trial that could put him in prison just got underway.

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It was the Trump whisperer at The New York Times, Maggie Haberman—not exactly a Trump hater—who first reported that Trump’s “head keeps dropping down and his mouth goes slack” before being “jolted back awake” as his lawyers pass him notes, seemingly to keep him alert. Her story sits right up at the top of the Times web site: “A Weary Trump Appears to Doze Off in Courtroom Ahead of Criminal Trial.”

Other reporters corroborated that Trump had his “eyes closed” and had appeared to fall asleep. The reports were so alarming to the Trump team that they went into full attack mode against the media. The campaign put out a statement: “This is 100% Fake News coming from ‘journalists’ who weren’t even in the courtroom.”

That, of course, is false, as Haberman and other reporters were sitting right there. Haberman says Trump even “glared” at her after recess, after she had reported on his courtroom slumber.

But Trump and the campaign are right to be very afraid.

The first day of Trump’s first criminal trial got wall-to-wall coverage on cable and broadcast news and in every online news publication. And right up at the top was the reporting that Trump appeared to fall asleep. If millions of Americans heard anything about the trial yesterday—which was bogged down in lots of motions before getting to jury selection—they heard that Trump fell asleep.

It was the punchline on late-night TV and is still exploding on social media as “Sleepy Don” keeps trending.

It cuts to the core of Trump’s entire candidacy. Trump tries to portray himself as energetic and full of vitality, running against a president he claims is tired, worn, and checked out. But as Biden was kicking off three more days of vigorous campaigning across battleground states, Trump is nodding off in court. It may seem superficial, but Trump has set those precise terms for the election.

The report won’t be believed by Trump’s hard-core base, of course, who will lap up the “fake news” argument, but it will be absorbed among independent and swing voters as another knock against the idea that Biden isn’t up to the job while Trump is alert and attuned to the world.

The Biden campaign went full force in trolling and mocking Trump. One campaign memo states:

Open your eyes and WAKE UP, Donald. We’ll tell you what your pollsters won’t: The women of America will not be gaslit into forgetting what you’ve done, and you will face the consequences at the ballot box this November.

Other messaging on social media from the campaign mercilessly skewered Trump’s dozing, while the Biden team also circulated a video of Haberman discussing Trump’s snooze on CNN.

Democratic strategists roasted Trump for nodding off:

Kate Bedingfield, former communications director to President Biden, wrote in response to the reporting, “Sleepy Don.”

Dan Pfeiffer, former senior adviser to President Obama, shared Haberman’s initial reporting and added, “If Trump is too old and weak to stay awake at his own criminal trial, what do you think will happen in the Situation Room?”

Obama’s 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina shared Haberman’s CNN interview and highlighted her comment: “Well, Jake, he appeared to be asleep.”

Democratic strategist Chris Jackson shared a photograph of Trump and said, “So sad.”

The Daily Beast spoke with a sleep expert about how all the stress may be keeping Trump up at night. Some posters on X asked where Trump buddy Mike Lindell, the “My Pillow Guy,” was, so he could help Trump out during his nap. Jimmy Kimmel said, ‘If Biden is ‘Sleepy Joe,’ I guess that makes you Doze-O the Clown.’”

Again, it may seem silly, but this is Trump being hoisted by his own petard. He’s the one who puts a premium on energy, and he’s now exposed himself, yet again. And it’s only going to get worse.

Trump was haggard heading into court, and he was surely aggravated by having to control himself, something that likely won’t last. He was told by the judge that he must be there every day, or he will be arrested, and was told he’d meet the same fate—arrest and jail—if he caused disruptions. Justice Juan Merchan isn’t playing around.

The judge denied Trump a day off to attend oral arguments at the Supreme Court on his “immunity” claim, and also didn’t commit to allowing Trump to attend his son’s graduation, noting that it would depend on if the schedule of the trial was slowed down. (This was another slap at Trump and his team for causing delays, letting it be known that bad behavior won’t be rewarded.)

Trump made a cranky statement to the press when he came out of court at the end of the day—grumbling about a ”witchhunt,”which now just brings yawns—but his heart wasn’t even in that, as he looked like he just woke up from a nap. The more he’s talking about the trial—and his supposed persecution—the less Trump is on the campaign trail talking about topics Americans care about.

This isn’t the primary race, where Trump’s hard core base rallied against his having been charged with 91 felonies, even as a substantial protest vote emerged with those casting votes for Nikki Haley. We’re in the general election now, where polls show the majority of Americans take the charges against Trump seriously. Trump’s opponent, the incumbent president, isn’t in court facing charges. He’s running the country during a tumultuous time, domestically and around the globe, while also campaigning and talking about what matters to voters.

The trial, while predicted by some to last for six weeks, could go on for two months or more at the rate it’s going. And we may still see the DC coup trial happen later in the campaign.

And just a few hours into his first criminal case, Trump killed the talking point he’s most embraced against Biden. Every day he’s in court facing criminal charges— diminished and exhausted, rather than attempting to show vigor and strength—is another day when America sees just how feeble Trump is.