Donald Trump fell asleep in court again on Tuesday despite a new push by his attorneys to keep him awake, according to a reporter on the scene.
MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin, who has been in the courtroom with Trump during his trial in the Stormy Daniels hush money case, was pretty direct when asked for her observations on the former president.
“Sleeping. Again,” she told the network’s Chris Jansing, adding that attorneys have “tried a number of different devices” to keep him awake amid reports he continues to nod off in court.
“When there are sidebars, an attorney doesn’t leave his side anymore because leaving him alone means leaving him to potentially sleep,” she said. “He has a stack of papers with him at all times now to go through.”
But they don’t seem to be working for Trump, who has reportedly dozed off multiple times as the trial progresses.
“Neither of those things seem to have protected Trump from his own exhaustion today,” she said. “More than not, when I looked up to see how Trump was receiving the testimony, Trump was not receiving it at all because his eyes were closed.”
During a later appearance on the network, Rubin allowed that there may be other explanations for Trump’s closed eyes.
“He appears to be at rest for considerable periods of time,” she told Chris Hayes. “Every time I looked up today, particularly during the first part of the day, Donald Trump’s eyes were closed. He could’ve been meditating. He could’ve been napping. That’s not for me to say other than I think he appeared to be at rest.”
Former U.S. attorney Harry Litman, who was also at the trial, put it more bluntly.
“I brought binoculars,” he said. “REM, we’re talking about. Seriously. He was under.”
Trump, ironically, has derisively referred to President Joe Biden as “Sleepy Joe,” a nickname that more than a few analysts have pointed out will be hard for him to use again given his tendency to snooze in court.
