Jimmy Kimmel has used one of Donald Trump’s most frequent attacks on Joe Biden against him after the former president appeared to fall asleep on the opening day of his historic criminal trial in New York.
According to court reporters present in the courtroom on Monday for the first day of Mr. Trump’s hush money trial, the former president appeared to struggle to keep his eyes open during proceedings, with some even claiming that he had fallen asleep.
Mr Trump’s campaign has vehemently disputed that he fell asleep, calling the charges “100% fake news,” but rumors of his brief snooze sparked a new nickname for the 77-year-old online: “Sleepy Don.”
On his late-night show, Jimmy Kimmel noted the irony of Mr Trump falling asleep during his court appearance, given that he has regularly referred to President Biden as “Sleepy Joe” for his multiple gaffes.
“If Biden is ‘Sleepy Joe,’ I guess that makes you Doze-O the Clown,” he remarked.
“Imagine if Joe Biden fell asleep in the court on the first day of his trial,” he went on to say. “Trump would be calling him ‘Comatose Joe,’ Fox News would be talking about this until Christmas, but not old Donny Nappleseed.”
However, Mr. Kimmel did notice an advantage.
“It’s nice to see even Donald Trump is exhausted by Donald Trump,” the president stated.
Mr Trump became the first US president in history to stand trial on Monday when jury selection began.
He faces 34 felony counts for allegedly falsifying company documents to conceal hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He allegedly paid Ms Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her quiet on a 2006 encounter.
The former president is also charged in two other criminal cases, one accusing him of conspiring to change the 2020 election results and another of hoarding confidential materials. Trump denies all claims against him.