CNN Panel Cracks Up During Live Shot of Trump ‘With His Eyes Shut’ — As Van Jones Suggests President is ‘Asleep’

The panel on CNN’s coverage of the make-up White House Correspondents’ Dinner burst out laughing at a shot of President Donald Trump “with his eyes shut” on Friday as he awaited his speech slot.

The original dinner, on April 25, was cut short after Cole Tomas Allen allegedly opened fire outside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton Hotel. He was quickly apprehended, and while no one was killed in the ordeal, a Secret Service agent suffered non-life-threatening injuries after being struck by gunfire atop an armoured vest. Allen has since pled not guilty.

“I just wanna acknowledge it,” said CNN’s John Berman on Friday, looking at Trump through the camera. “He is striking the pose that has led to a lot of pictures and a lot of internet memes, which is the president with his eyes shut. And a lot of people have wondered at the White House if the president occasionally dozes off at times. I don’t think that’s what’s happening here. He seems to be thinking, or maybe resting or listening intently.”

“He’s running his remarks through his head, with his eyes potentially closed,” chimed in CNN contributor — and Trump’s former White House Communications Director — Alyssa Farah Griffin.

“Or, he’s asleep,” surmised CNN’s Van Jones — to laughter from the panel.

Berman added that “either way,” he doesn’t think “it’s an image the White House would like for the evening.”

“He doesn’t know he’s on camera right now,” Jones offered. “Sometimes you do run the things through your mind… Everybody thinks Donald Trump doesn’t care about certain things. I think he’s a performer.”

While CNN’s Scott Jennings didn’t chime in directly during the referenced conversation, earlier in the evening, when asked what he thought Trump might be thinking, he responded, theoretically quoting Trump, “Who approved the order of speaking here, and could you have them in my office Monday morning?”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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