Biden blasted for ‘falling asleep’ at Jimmy Carter’s funeral as wife Jill ‘forced to nudge him’ and Bush ‘checks on him’
PRESIDENT Joe Biden has been blasted for putting his head down at Jimmy Carter’s funeral as viewers think he’s falling asleep.
Social media users speculated that Biden dozed off after his wife, Jill Biden, was seen nudging him during the service.
The president, 82, closed his eyes as he was surrounded by other politicians including Vice President Kamala Harris as well as Bill and Hillary Clinton.
“Is Biden asleep at Carter’s funeral??” one eagle-eyed viewer joked on X.
“Biden asleep on the job again,” another joked.
“How much sleep is Biden getting during this service,” another added.
All five recent presidents, George W. Bush, Clinton, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Biden were seated together at the funeral on Thursday to honor former President Carter, who died aged 100 on December 29.
Bush was seen leaning forward to speak to Biden and Harris multiple times as he appeared to check on him.
Biden gave a eulogy at today’s service, leaving some viewers speculating that he was simply looking down at his notes for the speech instead of closing his eyes altogether.
However, footage from the cathedral showed the president’s eyes closed for extended portions of the service.
“They need to let Biden deliver his eulogy before he falls asleep and they have to wake [him] up to go up there,” another critic wrote on X.
It comes as Michelle Obama is also facing criticism for being the only living former first lady who’s not in attendance at the funeral.
CNN journalist Jeff Zeleny explained she had a scheduling commitment as she’s still on an “extended holiday” in Hawaii.
Plus, Trump and Obama were seen sharing a joke while seated in the National Cathedral in Washington DC.
NOT HIS FIRST NAP
Biden has a stacked track record of dozing off during important events throughout his presidency.
Just last month, he appeared to fall asleep during a meeting with African leaders when he closed his eyes for over a minute.
In 2021, he was caught nodding off during the opening speeches of a climate summit before one of his staffers had to wake him up.
He even admitted that he nearly fell asleep on stage during his presidential debate against Trump last June.
“I wasn’t very smart,” Biden said a week after the face-off while talking to donors at a fundraiser in Virginia.
He said that traveling around the world left him exhausted ahead of the disastrous debate, which was one of the key events that got the ball rolling on Biden dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.
“I didn’t listen to my staff,” he admitted at the time.
“And then I almost fell asleep on stage.”