In yet another entertaining yet frustrating moment out of the increasingly out-of-touch and decrepit Democratic Caucus in the US Congress, one of the elderly members of the Democratic contingent in the Senate fell asleep during President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress in March of this year, one of his duties as president.
The individual involved was Senator Peter Welch (D-VT), a 78-year-old who is far to the left but generally unknown. He is the junior senator from Vermont, with the senior senator being the much better-known and even more radical leftist, Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democratic Party.
In any case, the senator’s State of the Union catnap was seen by much of the country because he was seated next to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), another leftist radical. President Trump referenced her false claims of Native American ancestry, which she allegedly used to get a teaching position at Harvard through affirmative action, by calling her “Pocahontas,” and so during the speech the camera panned to her, catching Sen. Welch’s nap.
The CSPAN-captured clip of the incident quickly went viral on X (formerly Twitter), with numerous accounts quickly posting it and joking at Welch’s expense. One, for example, noted that Welch fell asleep despite listening to the man the Democrats often compare to some of history’s great villains, saying, “Shoutout to the democrat senator Peter Welch for being able to fall asleep next to Elizabeth Warren and while “Hitler” is speaking no less!”
Another account, this one a DC-based journalist named Charolotte Scott, more sedately noted, “.@SenPeterWelch appears to be asleep during @POTUS’ address to a joint session of Congress.” Responding to her post with a quote tweet, Sen. Welch didn’t deny that he fell asleep. Instead, he said, “Tired of the lies.”
Responding, a commenter slammed the senator and his party for not applauding a boy who has managed to beat off brain cancer for years, saying, “I mean you do look like you’re sleeping. Plus it was obvious that you all were too tired to stand for those who lost loved ones and a kid who is a cancer survivor so…”
Watch the incident here:
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Shoutout to the democrat senator Peter Welch for being able to fall asleep next to Elizabeth Warren and while “Hitler” is speaking no less! pic.twitter.com/eCUaR5h00Y
— Hugh Jastle (@hughjastle69) March 5, 2025
For reference, the incident came because the camera was panning to Elizabeth Warren, who President Trump slammed when speaking of his hopes peace in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. He began that bit by saying, “In the Middle East, we’re bringing back our hostages from Gaza. In my first term, we achieved one of the most groundbreaking peace agreements in generations: the Abraham Accords. And now we’re going to build on that foundation to create a more peaceful and prosperous future for the entire region. A lot of things are happening in the Middle East. People haven’t been talking about that so much lately with everything going on with Ukraine and Russia, but a lot of things are happening in the Middle East. It’s a rough neighborhood, actually.”
Continuing, he commented on the Ukrainian war, saying, “I’m also working tirelessly to end the savage conflict in Ukraine. Millions of Ukrainians and Russians have been needlessly killed or wounded in this horrific and brutal conflict with no end in sight. The United States has sent hundreds of billions of dollars to support Ukraine’s defense with no security, with no anything. Do you want to keep it going for another five years?”
Liz Warren then bizarrely stood up and shouted, “Yes!”, meaning that she did want to keep the bloodshed going for many more years. President Trump, not missing a beat, responded by saying, Yeah. Yeah, you would say — Pocahontas says, ‘Yes.’” That led to a great deal of laughter from the crowd.
Featured image credit: CSPAN