U.S. President Joe Biden playfully turned the tables on his predecessor, Donald Trump, during a campaign fundraiser in Seattle, Wash., on Friday, May 10, referring to him as "Sleepy Don" after the former president was caught dozing off in court during his ongoing hush money trial.
Trump, who has repeatedly dubbed Biden "Sleepy Joe" in interviews and on social media, found himself on the receiving end of the nickname as the current president quipped, "Hello, Seattle! And thank you for the warm welcome. But please keep it down because - Donald Trump is sleeping. Sleepy Don. I kind of like that these days."
The lighthearted jab at Trump's courtroom snooze was just one of several attacks Biden leveled against his potential 2024 opponent during the fundraiser. The president also spoke more seriously about the dangers he believed a future Trump presidency would pose, particularly in light of the former president's comments on monitoring women's pregnancies and prosecuting those who violate abortion bans.
"Trump did a long interview in TIME Magazine. You ought to read - I'm being deadly earnest about this. You ought to read it," Biden urged the audience. "He said, quote, 'states should monitor women's pregnancies and prosecute those who violate the bans.' Monitor women's pregnancies? What have we become here?"
Biden's criticism of Trump extended beyond the fundraiser, as he ramped up his attacks against the presumptive Republican nominee at a private event in Seattle on Saturday. The president told donors that Trump was "clearly unhinged," suggesting that something had "snapped" in his predecessor when he lost the 2020 election. "It's clear that when he lost and when he lost in 2020, something snapped in him," Biden said. "He just can't accept the fact he's lost, and he's lost it when he lost. He really did."
Despite Trump's ongoing legal troubles, including being the first U.S. president to face criminal charges and his current hush money trial in New York, Biden acknowledged that the race between the two men remained "close." The president emphasized that Trump was running for "revenge" rather than to lead America, underscoring the high stakes of the upcoming election.
Trump, for his part, has continued his longstanding tirade against Biden, accusing his successor of running a "Gestapo administration" and claiming that the legal cases against him were orchestrated by the Biden administration to interfere in the 2024 presidential election, although he has failed to provide evidence to support these claims. At a rally in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump told supporters, "All of this persecution is only happening because I'm running for president. If I wasn't leading in the polls by a lot and running for president, they wouldn't be after me."
The former president has also revived his attempts to depict Biden as confused, seizing on a purported flub in which Biden appeared to begin saying the name of former President George W. Bush rather than President Trump during a virtual campaign event. However, Trump misstated the source of the quote, attributing it to CBS's "60 Minutes" when, in fact, Biden was addressing the comedian George Lopez during a live stream called "I Will Vote."
