White House Calls Netizen ‘Moron’ for Posting Photo of Trump Allegedly Dozing Off During Event

Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticized Joe Biden in the past with comments like “Sleepy Joe,” came under fire as he was spotted dozing off for an entire 17 seconds on camera. Donald Trump, who is set to turn 80 this year, fell asleep behind his desk while hosting an event on maternal health. At the time, the president was surrounded by various other cabinet members who stood around Trump while he dozed off.

According to The Daily Beast, Alabama Sen. Katie Britt and Dr. Mehmet Oz, head of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, were among the few cabinet members. That said, this is not the first time the president has been caught on camera taking a siesta. Ever since assuming office for his second term, Trump has come under immense scrutiny for growing health concerns.

Earlier this year, the president came under fire for dozing off at an event while being addressed directly. While the White House refused to comment on the matter at that time, things got way more heated this time around. As the internet continued to mock the president and post multiple images and videos showing Trump asleep for extended periods, the White House took notice.

Commenting on one of the images taken by a Reuters photographer, the White House Rapid Response 47 account wrote: “He was blinking, you absolute moron.” The six words by the official White House account quickly sparked a wave of reactions online, with X users intensifying their mockery of Trump.

“Doctors and health organizations generally recommend that healthy adults get 7 to 9 hours of blinking per night,” one user wrote ironically under the comment by White House. Another user posted an edited image of Joe Biden writing over a sleeping Donald Trump, with the caption, “Who is sleepy now?”

Democrat Ted Lieu also replied to the White House comment, with a video of Donald Trump dozing off for exactly 17 seconds, calling the president’s “blink” a “verrrrrrrrryyyyy long blink.” Instead of addressing the situation, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung targeted Lieu personally.

“Ted Lewd is a loser of the highest order, and he needs to get serious professional help for his debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” the White House Communications Director said in a conversation with The Daily Beast. Donald Trump himself has alluded to his habit of dozing off to “blinking” in the past.

“It’s very relaxing to me,” Trump said in a conversation with The Wall Street Journal. “Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink.” According to Kaitlan Collins, the president refuses to sleep when he’s traveling, which reportedly leads him to fall asleep during public appearances.

“He doesn’t sleep on these trips,” Collins said in a podcast with Jason Tartick. “And like, you’re going to Asia or something, and that’s kind of the only time you’re going to sleep, before you go on this trip, but Trump is just always up and talking, and he’ll like, have them go and wake staff up if they’re asleep because he wants to talk to them.”