Sleepy Don's dilemma: Napping in court could help Trump win the case, but it hurts him with his base

Toddlers are superior to Donald Trump in all ways, but they share one trait with the old man: A tendency to veer wildly between throwing tantrums or crashing into naps.

On Monday, Trump's urge to sleep took over during the court proceedings at the Manhattan-based trial regarding "hush money" payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Multiple courtroom reporters saw Trump nodding off. "Trump closed his eyes several times. He then abruptly caught himself and stiffened his posture," the Washington Post reported.

There was much merriment in the political press over this because Trump is forever accusing his opponent, President Joe Biden, of being "sleepy." As usual with Trump, every accusation is a confession. Trump's campaign appears to be especially chagrined by this, claiming it's "100% Fake News coming from ‘journalists’ who weren’t even in the court room." (Every word of that statement, needless to say, is a lie.) Trump's team has been working overtime to weave an illusion for his MAGA base that he is not the tired and cranky old man clearly visible in the pictures, but more like a hyperactive toddler or perhaps a petulant teenager. The campaign sent out an email Monday afternoon falsely claiming Trump "stormed out of court." Even while Trump was dozing off, someone pretended to be him posting on Truth Social. Presumably, they believe Trump's loyalists are dumb enough to picture their orange savior furiously typing on his phone under the defendant's table.

Will Scharf, who is hired as a Trump attorney but who mostly seems to spend his time doing P.R. for his client on cable news, even tried to seed the laughable idea that Trump might testify. On CNN, without breaking character, Scharf claimed Trump "would be a very compelling witness in this case." Trump is not going to testify. He has professional lawyers working on this case, not the clown car he rolled out for his civil trials. They know better than to let a prosecutor anywhere close to asking their client a question.

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These lies are all an elaborate theatrical performance for the MAGA base, so they can keep telling themselves that their beloved ex-president is acting exactly how they like him: Like a 4-year-old flailing on a grocery store floor because Mom said they cannot have another candy bar. Trump supporters mistake petulance for strength. To keep the donations flowing, so Trump's fancy lawyers can get paid, it's crucial for him to pantomine belligerence, even if what is actually on display in court is a weary old man.

The irony of this is that "Sleepy Don" is likelier to win at trial than the "Tantruming Trump" his followers so admire. Outside of the MAGA bubble, most people are repulsed when a grown man acts like Prince Joffrey from "Game of Thrones." This is likely why, even though he was widely mocked for sleeping during the first day of the trial, journalists once again report that Trump nodded off periodically on the second day. His lawyers likely told him to stay quiet. Whining at cameras is how Trump energizes himself, and without that, he drifted off.

One juror who was dismissed spoke to MSNBC and remarked on how the setting stripped Trump of all the bells and whistles that he uses to seem larger than life. "You see somebody blown up so larger than life on the media, for so many years," she said. "To see them in person is very jarring. And you get the sense that oh, this is just another guy."

That Trump is just a man — and a tired, old man at that — is the information Trump is most eager to conceal from his supporters. His entire mystique to the MAGA crowd is based on their faith that he's somehow impervious to the normal forces that work on the rest of us. His ability to project immunity from consequences for his crimes is a huge part of his appeal to his worshippers, of course. But he also wants them to believe that he is above petty concerns like sleep or eating right, much less that he's affected by the process of aging. The aspirational fantasy Trump sells his folllowers is one where his bad actions and stupid behaviors never catch up with him.

Remember Trump's reaction when he caught what was obviously a very serious case of COVID-19? He was so focused on trying to fool his voters into thinking he wasn't sick that he probably made himself sicker in the process. Nor was it just the ridiculous photos from the hospital where he pretended he was working or him trying to look triumphant stripping off his mask from the White House balcony. He was once so worried about looking weak that he once denounced reports of "mini-strokes" that no one had made.

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The supervillain act Trump puts on certainly impresses his loyalists, who seem at this point like they'd root for Thanos to best those "woke" Marvel heroes like Captain America or Spiderman. Normal people being called for jury duty, however, likely take a different view. His acting out during the second E. Jean Carroll trial seemed to have only proved her lawyer's point that Trump is a bully and a pig. The result was the jury awarding Carroll over $83 million — over 16 times what the jury in the first trial, which Trump didn't attend, gave his sexual assault victim.

Thus the conundrum that will face Trump throughout this trial: On one hand, raising money to pay for all this means playing the loudmouthed bully his followers swoon over. On the other hand, showing the jury what a pig he is will only convince them that he, as Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen will attest, did mastermind a conspiracy that resulted in serious damage to both their lives.

Right now, Sleepy Don who wants to stay out of prison is winning out. But Trump's ego is fragile. His need to have his supporters cheer him will start to chew on him. Their wish to see him act like a jerk will not be satisfied by low energy rants outside the courtroom or laughably false claims he "stormed" out of the trial. Add Trump's severe impulse control problems to the mix, and things could get hairy. This trial is expected to last weeks. While I have no doubt Trump is tired enough to sleep through all of it, his need for stimulation and attention may eventually start to overcome his urge to take a nap.