Stephen Colbert roasts Trump over courtroom sketch that shows he ‘fell asleep’ again

‘He was sharp, focused ― and he fell asleep again,’ Colbert says

Stephen Colbert has mocked Donald Trump for allegedly falling asleep on the second day of his historic hush money trial during his Tuesday night show.

“He was sharp, focused ― and he fell asleep again,” Colbert said. The Late Show host showed a courtroom sketch where Trump appeared to be dozing off with his eyes closed and his head tilted to the side.

Reports emerged of Mr Trump falling asleep in court on Monday after New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted: “Trump appears to be sleeping. His head keeps dropping down and his mouth goes slack.”

The observation quickly inspired a new nickname for the 77-year-old former president: “Sleepy Don” which spread across social media.

“Looks, he’s old. The judge is keeping Sleepy Don from his nap time,” Meidas Touch editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski posted.

Trump’s campaign has furiously denied that he has fallen asleep in court, blasting the claims as “100% fake news.”

Courtroom sketch that appears to show Mr Trump dosing off (REUTERS)

“I think we found the new mascot for the Celestial Seasonings Sleepy Crime Tea,” Mr Colbert joked, before showing an image of a herbal tea packet with Mr Trump’s face from the courtroom sketch superimposed onto it.

Mr Trump became the first president in history to go on trial on Monday.

He is facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an alleged bid to cover up hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He allegedly paid Ms Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence over a 2006 affair. Trump denies the affair and all the charges against him.

He is also involved in two other criminal cases related to his alleged attempts to conspire to overturn the result of the 2020 election and another case related to retaining classified documents.