Donald Trump caught heat for closing his eyes through a press conference, and a new Washington Post analysis reveals the president spent nearly 20 minutes sleeping or battling sleep during the event.
Trump appeared to doze off during a press conference on Thursday, drawing both mockery and shock from political analysts and other online observers. One night later, as he was trying to shake off the Oval Office scandal, he was seen "slumping" into his limo, according to video posted by Fox News and shared by the Daily Beast Saturday.
Now, the Washington Post has published an analysis of the Oval Office event, reviving the scandal with video evidence suggesting Trump was asleep for nearly 20 minutes on that occasion.
In a Saturday article called "A closer look at Trump’s apparent struggles to fight off sleep in the Oval Office," the outlet argues that its "analysis of multiple video feeds found that the president spent nearly 20 minutes apparently battling to keep his eyes open at a recent event."
"President Donald Trump hosted one of the more attention-grabbing press events of his term in the Oval Office this week, announcing price cuts for weight-loss drugs, only to be interrupted when one of the attendees collapsed in a faint. Before that dramatic turn of events, however, Trump appeared to struggle to stay awake as his health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and two other deputies took turns explaining the announcement. Clips of the scene have circulated widely on social media and drawn heavy criticism from Democrats," the Post reported. "A Washington Post analysis of multiple video feeds found that Trump spent nearly 20 minutes apparently battling to keep his eyes open at the Thursday event. It was a seemingly stark illustration of the strain of the presidency on a 79-year-old who typically keeps a vigorous travel schedule that even his aides say they struggle to keep up with — and who has reveled in calling his predecessor 'Sleepy Joe' Biden."
Reacting to the report Saturday, former government official Neera Tanden said, "Oh my God. He was sleeping 20 minutes during a live event."