MSNBC Legal Correspondent Lisa Rubin torpedoed ex-President Donald Trump for sleeping in court again, reporting the defense has tried “a number of different devices” to keep Trump awake — without much success.
Trump’s trial on 34 felony counts of allegedly falsifying business records to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels has been marked by an embarrassing theme. Since it was first reported that Trump fell asleep in court, the man who nicknamed his rival “Sleepy Joe” has been caught napping in court at least half-a-dozen times.
Rubin and MSNBC contributor Sue Craig were on hand to report live from the hush money election interference trial on Tuesday’s edition of MSNBC’s Chris Jansing Reports, during which Rubin detailed the measures Trump’s team have taken to try and keep him awake:
CHRIS JANSING: Really quickly if I can. Lisa, your observations on Donald Trump today.
LISA RUBIN: Sleeping! I guess they have tried a number of different devices. Yeah, sleeping for a lot of it. I would say they’ve tried a number of different devices to keep Trump awake.
Partially in response, or what appears to be in response to collective press corps observations. So, for example, when there are sidebars, an attorney doesn’t leave his side anymore because leaving him alone means leaving him to potentially sleep.
He has a stack of papers with him at all times now to go through, but neither of those things seem to have protected Trump from his own exhaustion today.
More than, you know, 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.
SUE CRAIG: I want to make a differential. We don’t know if he’s sleeping. His eyes are sometimes closed. It could be because he’s trying not to react. It could be because he’s listening.
We have seen him at times sleeping, but I think at times today he was also — especially when Keith Davidson got up — he was, I thought, he was attentive to the testimony and he was popping mints into his mouth.
So I think, you know, it depends, given, I think who’s up and where we are in the testimony.
CHRIS JANSING: Now —
LISA RUBIN: I would say the morning did not hold his interest.
(laughter)
SUE CRAIG: Yeah.
CHRIS JANSING: That’s safe.
Watch above via MSNBC’s Chris Jansing Reports.
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