Chris Hayes Mocks Trump for Nodding Off in Court: ‘If You Call Your Opponent Sleepy Joe, You Have One Job’

Donald Trump reportedly fell asleep on the first day of his criminal trial in Manhattan, prompting Chris Hayes to reflect on the nickname the former president uses for President Joe Biden.

Jury selection began on Monday for a trial that will determine whether Trump is guilty of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to hide extramarital affairs ahead of the 2016 election. He has pleaded not guilty to all 34 counts he faces.

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times was in the courtroom and said the former president appeared to have fallen asleep.

“Trump appears to be sleeping. His head keeps dropping down and his mouth goes slack,” she observed. Afterward, Trump “glared” at Haberman as he left court.

Hayes addressed what he called Trump’s “sustained eye-resting.”

“I do feel like if you call your opponent ‘Sleepy Joe,’ you have one job for the rest of the campaign,” he said. “You gotta like, Clockwork Orange those puppies open at all times.”

Hayes added that while Trump is accustomed to being in control, his status as a criminal defendant has upended this dynamic.

“I really can’t think of a thing that’s more nightmarish in some ways for him at a personal level,” he continued. “You don’t have the stimulus, you’re not getting ego bumps from some social media replies. And you just gotta sit there and watch this day after day. I mean this was day one. This is weeks and weeks of this. So just at the most sort of human level, I was just watching the reports today and thinking about just the sheer psychological torture.”

Watch above via MSNBC.

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