The White House social media team attempted to manage the fallout from an unflattering photograph of President Donald Trump on Monday, but their response was so questionable that it invited widespread ridicule.
The controversy began when Reuters Pentagon correspondent Idrees Ali shared a photo taken by Reuters photographer Evelyn Hockstein. The image captured the president with his eyes shut during an Oval Office event focused on maternal health.
Although Ali's caption did not make any inflammatory statements, observers quickly noted that the president appeared to be asleep. Trump has faced accusations of nodding off multiple times during his second term.
The White House likely exacerbated the situation by responding to the post. The Rapid Response 47 account replied to Ali, stating, "He was blinking, you absolute moron," even though Ali had not explicitly claimed the president was sleeping.
This defensive reaction triggered a wave of social media mockery. Users posted comments such as, "That's an awfully long blink!" and "Doctors and health organizations generally recommend that healthy adults get 7 to 9 hours of blinking per night."
One user noted, "The president 'blinked' for nineteen seconds straight," while another remarked, "We're in such a stupid timeline, the official position is he just takes really long blinks. But we're the morons."
Critics also pointed to video footage from the event, with one commenter saying, "Except in the video he was sleeping… again." Another described the White House's action as "An amazing self-own from the White House."
Official event footage shows Trump periodically closing his eyes after the 26-minute mark.
