In a not at all surprising and very funny turn of events during the summit in Angola, President Joe Biden appeared to “rest his eyes” while sitting with other leaders and being videoed. As could be expected, the incident raised eyebrows and led to much hilarity and commentary online given the president’s age and reputation.
In the video of the incident, the president was sitting with African leaders in Lobito, Angola, and they were being filmed. President Biden was seated in the middle of them, and as Tazania’s Vice President Philip Mpango spoke, the 82-year-old Commander-in-Chief appeared to close his eyes for more than a minute.
Other than that period, however, the president appeared to be relatively alert, and he spoke before and after the minute or so of eye-resting. A spokesperson for the National Security Council (NSC), said that the president did not fall asleep and was just listening, saying, “The President was awake during the conversation and did not fall asleep. He was simply listening to his counterpart’s remarks.”
But, while Biden appeared to be alert before and after and the administration denied he dozed off, many online commentators had something to say about the incident. Outkick founder Clay Travis, for example, said, “Joe Biden fell asleep during a meeting with African leaders today. He’s sharp as a tack though! Honestly, this feels intentional. Who puts an 82 year old on a plane for a THREE DAY trip to Africa?! Three days! So dumb.”
Similarly, the End Wokeness X account also characterized the incident as Biden having fallen asleep, saying, “Biden just fell asleep smack in the middle of a summit with African leaders.” Replying, a commenter said, “Sleepy Joe continues to embarrass the U.S. on the world stage. Trump can’t get into office fast enough.”
Another commenter said, referencing the mainstream media’s alleged kid-glove treatment of President Biden, “The level of disrespect on display in this clip from a sitting president is unimaginable. If Trump did this there would be 5000 articles about how he’s racist by the end of the day.”
Yet another commenter noted how rediculous and unnecessary the whole, embarrassing situation is, writing, “82 year old man, filthy rich, could be home enjoying his wealth, instead doing a job he doesn’t want to do for a country that doesn’t want him doing it.” Another said, “He gave them $1 Billion and slept through it all. The world couldn’t be more of a clown show.” Watch Biden here:
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The eye-resting incident follows Biden’s much-derided decision to announce a billion dollars in aid for African countries at a time when many Americans hit by Hurricane Helene are still struggling. Announcing that aid, he said, “The United States continues to be the world’s largest provider of humanitarian aid and development assistance. That’s going to increase, you know, that’s the right thing for the wealthiest nation in the world to do.”
Continuing, and commenting on the massive amount of aid that will be provisioned, he said, “Today I’m announcing over $1 billion in new humanitarian support for Africans displaced from homes by historic droughts and food insecurity. We know African leaders and citizens are seeking more than just aid. You seek investment.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video