President Donald Trump was called out and reminded of his "Sleepy Joe" insult aimed at former President Joe Biden after he seemingly fell asleep while attending the funeral for Pope Francis.
The Vatican has confirmed that Francis died of a stroke that led to a coma and ultimately heart failure. Francis, who had a history of chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed in his youth, was previously hospitalized for 38 days earlier this year after a respiratory crisis escalated into double pneumonia; his death kicked off a period of mourning for billions of people.
And amid one of the most important events in recent world history—eligible cardinals have gathered in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope through a secretive and sacred process known as the Conclave—Trump, one of multiple heads of state in attendance, appeared to be nodding off.
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The irony here is that Trump often attacked Biden by referring to him as "Sleepy Joe" and suggested Biden was too old and unfit to be in the executive office.
After a disappointing debate performance last year prompted Biden to step aside from the presidential race and endorse former Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump's entire campaign strategy was upended, making him the oldest candidate on the campaign trail and exposing faults in his logic.
The hypocrisy was rich—and people were quick to point it out.
This isn't the first time Trump has been called out for appearing to fall asleep during both professional and legal appearances.
In October 2024, Trump attended a recent Latino summit in Doral, Florida, which gave him the opportunity to speak to Hispanic voters about issues like economic growth and border security. But that was overshadowed by a moment when he appeared to fall asleep in the middle of the event.
In response Harris's campaign trolled him with a video of the dozing Trump accompanied by the sounds of a soothing lullaby, a move that came as Trump's behavior—including his recent decision to bop to music for 40 minutes after people at one of his rallies suffered medical emergencies—raised further questions about his age and mental fitness.
Trump also faced criticism for appearing to fall asleep during his hush money trial last year. New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman, one of the reporters present in the courtroom, was the first to report that Trump appeared to have fallen asleep during the proceedings.
Additionally, Trump's former White House adviser and Apprentice contestant Omarosa Manigault Newman described how his aides would keep his attention during long events.
Manigault Newman said Trump has a history of dozing off, adding that Trump “cannot focus, nor can he sit still for long" so his staff had to structure events “specifically to address his attention deficit.” She recalled that staff would "slide him different information or news articles he could read while the long proceedings were going on, anything to keep him focused so he wouldn't get up and walk out."
