Topline
Former President Donald Trump appeared to doze off during a campaign event in Michigan’s Oakland County on Friday, provoking further criticism from Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, and following a string of canceled interviews this week that an advisor attributed to his “exhausted” state.
The roundtable event was held in Michigan’s Oakland County. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Key Facts
Trump was attending a roundtable in the swing state of Michigan when he seemingly nodded off, with the former president closing his eyes as an Oakland County community member talked about the region’s educational issues.
Trump talked about his campaign schedule during the event, jabbing at the frequency of his campaign events and asking attendees, “You think this is an easy life I have, right?”
The former president attended the roundtable hours before he was scheduled to hold a rally in Detroit, which lasted for about an hour and a half.
Harris’ campaign referred to the former president as an “exhausted Trump.”
Trump’s bout of drowsiness comes after he canceled multiple interviews this week, with Politico reporting an adviser told the show’s producers Trump was “exhausted and refusing [some] interviews but that could change.”
A representative for Trump did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment.
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Tangent
Trump’s rally in Detroit was plagued by technical issues, as the Republican nominee’s microphone cut out and remained off for about 20 minutes before the issue was resolved. Trump said he would not “pay the bill” for the company who managed the event’s microphones, adding, “I won’t pay the bill, and then we’ll have a story that Trump didn’t pay the bill to a contractor.”
Big Number
Two. That is how many points Harris leads Trump in Michigan (47% to 45%), according to a Wall Street Journal poll, though Trump held a three-point lead (50% to 47%) in an Oct. 9 Quinnipiac poll.
Key Background
Following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race, Trump, 78, is now the oldest candidate to run for president and will be the oldest U.S. president if he wins the election. Trump has fallen asleep on the public stage before, appearing to nod off multiple times during his hush money trial earlier this year. The former president’s mental acuity has been closely watched in the leadup to the election. Trump, who has refused to release his medical report and repeatedly insisted he aced an unspecified cognitive test, drew criticism following his Monday town hall, where he mostly stood and swayed to music for the final 30 minutes. Harris released her own medical report this week and blasted Trump for not disclosing his, suggesting during a rally this week he was “too weak and unstable to lead America.” Trump began ramping up the frequency of his campaign events as Harris surged in polls back in August, with an unnamed adviser describing the strategy as “Trump on steroids.”
Further Reading
Trump’s Unwieldy Speeches Raise Questions About His Mental Acuity (Forbes)
