The Zapper: Trump’s Oval Office 'nap' sparks wild conspiracy theory

 As Donald Trump appeared to doze off in the Oval Office, a young woman was standing behind him with her hand placed on her midriff.

She tapped her hand against her stomach and, at the same time, Mr Trump seemed to jolt awake.

The moment on Aug 10, which was caught on camera, has gone viral and has led online sleuths to give the woman – Jayme Franklin – a new name: “The Zapper”.

They speculate that Ms Franklin, a 26-year-old Maga influencer, had been entrusted with the task of subtly delivering an electric shock to Mr Trump if he fell asleep. They claim Ms Franklin is concealing a remote control on her stomach.

The staffer had a more straightforward explanation: “I’m just pregnant you weirdos,” she wrote on X last week.

While there’s no proof to support the outlandish claims about “The Zapper”, the clip is the latest in a string of instances where the octogenarian president has been accused of falling asleep during public appearances.

In July, videos from Senator Lindsey Graham’s funeral appeared to show Mr Trump struggling to keep his eyes open.

A month earlier, as Mr Trump’s head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, addressed reporters, the president appeared to doze off again. This time, it was live on Fox News.

In July, videos from Senator Lindsey Graham’s funeral appeared to show Mr Trump struggling to keep his eyes open.

A month earlier, as Mr Trump’s head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, addressed reporters, the president appeared to doze off again. This time, it was live on Fox News.

Concerns have grown so loud that the White House has been forced to address them.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary who resigned on Wednesday, told New York Magazine in December that Mr Trump was “actively listening” when he closed his eyes.

“It’s not dozing,” Will Scharf, the White House staff secretary, also told the magazine. “Sometimes if he’s thinking about something – and I made that mistake at first too – he adopts a pose. He leans back or leans forward a little bit, and he either closes his eyes or looks down – because he often takes notes in his lap.”

‘Sleepy Joe’ comparisons

The scrutiny of Mr Trump has arguably been more intense after concerns about Joe Biden’s health were not only ignored, but allegedly covered up by staffers during the 2024 presidential campaign.

That decline burst into public view in June 2024 when Mr Trump and Mr Biden faced off in a debate on CNN. The disastrous performance eventually led to Mr Biden stepping out of the race.

Mr Biden’s family and inner circle apparently took extraordinary measures to avoid scrutiny of his decline, reportedly paring back his schedule with most public appearances taking place between 12pm and 5pm.

Since returning to the White House, Mr Trump has ordered an investigation into the alleged cover-up of Mr Biden’s cognitive issues and whether he was incapable of executing presidential decisions.

There has, therefore, been a generous dollop of schadenfreude surrounding Mr Trump’s dozing. His critics have rejoiced in the mockery being heaped on a president who was merciless in ridiculing his predecessor as “Sleepy Joe”.

The jibing of Mr Trump online has been unrelenting. One meme shows a photograph of a dozing Donald Trump captioned “The Nodfather”.

Another mocked-up picture shows Joe Biden using a felt-tip pen to write on Mr Trump’s face: “now who’s asleep”.

His political opponents have also highlighted the pattern.

“Donald Trump has repeatedly fallen asleep at multiple cabinet meetings, at multiple White House events, at a Memorial Day ceremony and most recently at a very loud and raucous New York Knicks-San Antonio Spurs game at night,” Ted Lieu, a prominent Californian Democrat, posted on social media.