Ex-Trump WH Lawyer and 2 More CNN Analysts Defend Trump Falling Asleep In Court — It’s ‘Boring’ And He’s ‘An Old Man’

Three CNN analysts — one an ex-Trump White House lawyer — defended former President Donald Trump for falling asleep in court because the proceedings were “boring” and Trump is “an old man.”

The first day of Trump’s trial on 34 felony counts of allegedly falsifying business records to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels was marked by an embarrassing episode for the defendant. Maggie Haberman reported that Trump fell asleep in court, which became the subject of banter and mockery all over the news — and from the Biden campaign.

But Trump had his defenders on CNN. On Tuesday morning’s edition of CNN This Morning, even as anchor Jim Acosta led a panel that mocked and laughed at Trump, CNN commentator Lulu Garcia-Navarro included a note in Trump’s defense.

“What I would say is, first of all, he’s old. And old men take naps. It was a long proceeding. And so that I would just say in his, in his, in his defense,” Garcia-Navarro said.

And on CNN News Central a while later, anchor Kate Bolduan hosted former Trump White House lawyer Jim Schultz — a CNN legal commentator — and CNN legal analyst Karen Friedman Agnifilo. Each of them offered similar excuses for Trump nodding off.

Agnifilo called it “very ordinary” and Schultz claimed “a lot of people are saying, yeah, I probably would have fallen asleep too”:

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO: What I would say is, first of all, he’s old. And old men take naps. It was a long proceeding. And so that I would just say in his, in his, in his defense.

…

KAREN FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO: So I didn’t see anything surprising at all yesterday. In fact, it was extremely routine and boring. So much so that, you know, it’s been reported that, the former president fell asleep in court, which happens to people in court because it can be very boring in real life. Right? There’s a lot of waiting. There’s a lot of downtime.

So it just felt very ordinary and it felt very much like every other case that is prosecuted in that building.

KATE BOLDUAN: Let me ask you just about that. It’s been described maybe as falling asleep also just, you know, without knowing his REM state, it’s he was seen with his eyes closed for significant periods of time, minutes at a time.

Regardless, Donald Trump in the courtroom. I’m fascinated on your take. Right. This is day one. And he was described as slouching, scowling, scoffing. Maybe that’s not a surprise either. What is six weeks going to look like this?

JIM SCHULTZ: I look, no, I think it gets different. It’s going to be a different situation once they get into the trial. Right.

But this is really a long, boring process. And I think a lot of people are saying, yeah, I probably would have fallen asleep too.

Now they don’t have an opponent that they’re calling Sleepy Joe. But I do think I think that that that is one of the issues here. Right? It’s going to be a long, arduous, you know, process here.

KATE BOLDUAN: His case or help his case, how he just looks in court and is sitting there before the jury.

JIM SCHULTZ: How he projects himself in his.

Watch above via CNN News Central.