Do videos show Trump falling asleep during Lindsey Graham’s funeral? We examined footage

During Sen. Lindsey Graham‘s funeral at the Washington National Cathedral on July 28, 2026, videos circulated online purportedly showing U.S. President Donald Trump falling asleep during the service. Graham died on July 11 after reportedly suffering from an aortic tear.

Trump has frequently faced scrutiny for publicly dozing off — especially considering he nicknamed former President Joe Biden, “Sleepy Joe” — including at a White House Cabinet meeting in December 2025 and during an announcement in the Oval Office in June 2026.

The claim that the president nodded off during Graham’s funeral spread across multiple platforms, with videos of different lengths showing the same moment. One X post (archived), that featured footage of the moment in question, read, “Trump appears to be completely passed out asleep at Lindsey Graham’s funeral.” Snopes readers also wrote in, looking to verify the video clips.

In the clip, Trump was slumped to his side for approximately four seconds before abruptly lifting his head up, indicating he had nodded off.

Combing through livestreamed footage of the funeral revealed the clips are authentic, though it’s not possible to determine whether he actually fell asleep or “completely passed out asleep,” as claimed, without confirmation from the president or his team. As far as Snopes could observe, at no point did Trump close his eyes for more than a few seconds, consecutively.

When asked if the footage showed Trump sleeping, White House spokesman Davis Ingle said: “President Trump was reflecting on the loss of his dear friend Lindsey Graham, for whom he had just delivered a beautiful eulogy. Anyone suggesting otherwise is a depraved moron.”

The moment in question occurred at around minute 1:22:07 of the Washington National Cathedral’s official livestream, while Fox News host Sean Hannity was speaking.

To say Trump was “completely passed out asleep” is an exaggeration — another X post claimed he “appears to be slumped over asleep,” while one on Instagram user said he “once again falls asleep in public.” Other livestreamed footage, such as on Fox News, shows him similarly closing his eyes for longer than normal at various points throughout the service. 

Some posts only featured a photo of the moment in question, which could be taken out of context because a picture, unlike a video, does not show how long Trump’s eyes were closed. Therefore, viewers might believe he was sleeping longer than he appeared to in the livestreamed footage. In reality, the screenshot that Occupy Democrats — an online community of Democrats and progressives — posted was from minute 1:44:20 of Fox News’ streamed footage, when Trump had his eyes closed for approximately four seconds.

Trump blinked slowly and irregularly throughout much of the service, sometimes squinting. At several moments he jolted and then sat up straighter. 

Moments where he appeared to be falling asleep contrasted with moments where he was alert, such as just before he approached the stage to give his eulogy. 

For further reading, we’ve previously examined footage purportedly showing Trump falling asleep during a UFC fight at the White House and another claim that he fell asleep during the 2026 Memorial Day ceremony.

Sources