Memorial Day Observance
As part of the yearly act of respect, President Biden observed Memorial Day on Monday by laying a wreath near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
Controversy Surrounding President Biden
Conservative activists claim President Biden was dozing off during Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s speech in a video that appeared to show him closing his eyes for a long time during a Memorial Day ceremony on Monday. The video has received a lot of attention on social media.
Trump’s Criticism of Biden
Prior to their anticipated rematch for the presidency in November, the 77-year-old Donald Trump has made a point of criticizing Joe Biden’s 81-year-old cognitive abilities, calling him “sleepy Joe.”
Though he vehemently disputed this on his Truth Social website, the presumed Republican presidential nominee has been accused of nodding off during his current hush money trial in Manhattan.
Video Circulation on Social Media
Several conservative-leaning accounts on X (previously Twitter) published a 48-second video of Biden being zoomed in on by an unidentified individual during the Memorial Day ceremony on television.
The voice of an unnamed lady is heard stating, “Look, Biden’s asleep. He closed his eyes for around thirty seconds.”
Do you think the media are going to use this?” the woman asks. The voice then declares, “He’s going to drool—wake up, Biden!”
A number of accounts on X reposted the video, among them “1776,” whose header photo features a loving portrait of Trump by an artist with an early rendition of the American flag.
The ‘1776’ account posted the video along with the following statement, “The amount of c*** Trump got about sitting in court, we will never see this in the media, this guy is sleeping in Memorial Day. Unreal [angry face emoji].” The video was also uploaded by Graham Allen’s X account, a conservative social media analyst, who wrote, “Joe Biden was literally sleeping during a MEMORIAL DAY ceremony. DISGUSTING.”
Along with posting the video, well-known conservative blogger Ian Miles Cheong, who has over a million X followers, wrote, “Biden fell asleep at the Memorial Day address. What in the world is wrong with him?”