Another 'did he fall asleep' moment for Trump? Religious panel meet sparks chatter

For a world leader whose flamboyant style and unfiltered remarks frequently dominate headlines, US President Donald Trump has also made news several times in recent months for moments of apparent inattentiveness during public appearances. Recently, he once again appeared to doze off with cameras pointed at him.

The scene unfolded during a meeting between the President and members of his Religious Liberty Commission, which is made up almost entirely of conservative Christians, in the Oval Office.

The members of the panel announced that they want to remove the separation of church and state, which is widely considered a key safeguard ensuring religious freedom in the US.

However, despite the high-stakes nature of the meeting, attention on social media quickly shifted elsewhere, with many users pointing to footage that appeared to show Trump briefly nodding off as Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick addressed reporters.

Video clips circulating online appeared to show the US President sitting with his eyes closed for several moments during the discussion. One of them appeared to capture him looking up as a different speaker continued addressing the room.

The moments quickly prompted a wave of reactions on social media. Some users joked that White House staff or even reporters should wake the President during one of his now-familiar "blinking" episodes – a tongue-in-cheek reference to a previous White House defence of a similar incident in May, when officials insisted Trump had merely been engaged in a prolonged blink rather than falling asleep.

Moreover, in February this year, a viral video showed Trump seemingly dozing off during a meeting of his Board of Peace.

Reacting to the latest incident at the Oval Office, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle snapped back at questions about the leader's attentiveness, asserting that the leader's "sharpness, unmatched energy, and historic accessibility" stand in sharp contrast to what was witnessed during the administration of Joe Biden, who, he said, received help from the "legacy media" to hide his "serious mental and physical decline."

"President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible President in American history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises," Ingle was quoted as saying by the HuffPost.

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