Donald Trump’s attorneys’ attempts to keep their defendant awake in court fell short, as he reportedly once again dozed off at the outset of his third week on trial.
The former President can’t stop sleeping in court, per reporters at the trial. Lisa Rubin, a legal correspondent for MSNBC, told Chris Jansing that Trump’s lawyers have gone to great lengths trying to keep him from snoozing during arguments.
Rubin told Jansing that attorneys have deployed “a number of different devices” to keep Trump alert, making efforts to distract or babysit him.
“When there are sidebars, an attorney doesn’t leave his side anymore because leaving him alone means leaving him to potentially sleep,” Rubin said. “He has a stack of papers with him at all times now to go through.”
Trump has fallen asleep in the majority of days of his Manhattan trial, where prosecutors are building a case that he made and covered up illegal hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. The trial, forecasted to last at least six weeks, has put the aging candidate, alongside his sleeping and speaking woes, in the spotlight.
Rubin and former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman offered more commentary on Trump’s frequent courtroom bouts of shut-eye to MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes.
“He appears to be at rest for considerable periods of time,” Rubin told Chris Hayes after Tuesday’s arguments. “Every time I looked up today, particularly during the first part of the day, Donald Trump’s eyes were closed.”
“I brought binoculars,” Litman said. “REM we’re talking about, seriously. He was under.”