Video shows Donald Trump sleeping at the Republican National Convention’s first night.
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Delegates crowd the floor of the Fiserv Forum on July 16, 2024, during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. (Louis Jacobson/PolitiFact)
Video shows Donald Trump’s eyes closed in prayer, not sleeping
If Your Time is short
- Longer video footage from the event shows that former President Donald Trump closed his eyes during a prayer.
Does a viral video show former President Donald Trump asleep at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee? Some social media posts claim to.
"Trump fell asleep at the RNC," a July 15 X video’s caption said. "On the first night. He just got there," it added. Another X user posted the same 21-second video clip with the caption: "Trump is literally asleep at the RNC event."
These claims are misleading. Although they show the former president’s eyes closed at the RNC, longer video footage from the event shows Trump’s eyes were closed during a prayer said by James Roemke, a Lutheran pastor in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Many Christians close their eyes during prayer, and Trump was not the only one who did so during Roemke’s prayer. Video shows many other attendees with their heads bowed and eyes closed during the prayer.
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After Roemke concluded, Harmeet Dhillon, former chair of the California Republican Party, was invited to the stage. Dhillon, who is Sikh, said the Ardas, a prayer for protection in Sikhism, and attendees had their eyes closed then, too.
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We rate the claim that this video shows Trump sleeping at the RNC's first night False.
Our Sources
X post, archived link, July 15, 2024
X post, archived link, July 15, 2024
The Associated Press, Day 1 at RNC, including Trump arrival (FULL STREAM), July 15, 2024
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, This Wisconsin pastor gave one heck of a Donald Trump impression at the RNC in Milwaukee Monday, July 15, 2024
Mint, Indian-American Republican Harmeet Dhillon recites ’Ardas’, thanks God for protecting Donald Trump’s life, July 16, 2024
Messiah Lutheran Church, Pastor James A. Roemke, accessed July 16, 2024
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Video shows Donald Trump’s eyes closed in prayer, not sleeping
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