Dec. 8, 2025

Sleepy Don Hosts The Kennedy Center Awards

Show Notes
Transcript

President Trump is fuming after coverage comparing him to “Sleepy Joe.” Patrick Gutfield breaks down Trump nodding off in Cabinet meetings, the mysterious bruises, the angry denials, and the full irony of a president who once branded Biden as tired now drifting off during his own workday. Plus: Trump’s chaotic Kennedy Center takeover, a MAGA-fied Honors gala, and a wild food-fight protest at the Tower of London involving apple crumble and custard. Only in 2025.

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WEBVTT

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Callarogus shark media from Washington, DC, where Sleepy Don is

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probably passed out. This is ballot. You know, maybe it's

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time we elected someone who is healthy enough to stay

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awake all day. Let's hit this. I'm Patrick Gutfield and

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President Trump is reportedly furious about news coverage comparing him

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to sleepy Joe Biden. Yes, the same Donald Trump who

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spent four years calling Biden's sleepy Joe, is now upset

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that people are calling him sleepy. The man invented the nickname,

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campaigned on it, put it on merchandise, and now he's

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mad the boomerang came back. According to reports, Trump gets

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angrier about stories questioning his health than almost anything except

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the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Sources say he'll fixate on critical

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coverage for days days. Meanwhile the rest of us can

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barely remember what we had for breakfast. The scrutiny ramped

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up after Trump was caught on care appearing to doze

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off during a cabinet meeting this week. A cabinet meeting.

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That's the one meeting where you're literally sitting at a

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table with your name on a placard in front of you.

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You can't even pretend you were closing your eyes to

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think deeply about infrastructure. And this isn't the first time

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reports say he's been caught drifting off during Oval office meetings,

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losing his train of thought mid sentence, and showing up

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with mysterious bruising on his hand that he covers with

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heavy concealer. The White House says the bruising is from

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chronic venus insufficiency, a condition where leg veins don't push

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blood back to the heart efficiently, so basically, his blood

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is as tired as he looks. Trump also had a

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moment during a press conference with Benjamin nettan Yahoo where

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he incorrectly remembered when his first term started. He forgot

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when he became president. That's not a small detail. That's

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the entire job. Imagine forgetting your wedding anniversary. But the

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wedding was also a four year global news event. The

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White House insists Trump is an excellent overall health and

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has a relentless work ethic and unmatched energy, which would

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be more convincing if we hadn't just watched him take

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an unscheduled nap during a meeting about running the country.

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Press Secretary Caroline Levitt blamed the media for pushing fake

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and desperate narratives, saying Americans trust in the media just

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hit an all time low. Sure, but you know what

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else is hitting an all time low. Trump's ability to

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stay awake past two in the afternoon. The irony is delicious.

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Trump spent years mocking Biden's age and stamina, and now

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he's seventy nine years old, falling asleep in meetings and

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raided scrolling negative press coverage about his health. He's become

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the very thing he swore to destroy. The only difference

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is Biden took afternoon naps on purpose. Trump's just doing

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it during work hours. Donald Trump hosted the Kennedy Center

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Honors on Sunday night. Not attended hosted. The President of

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the United States walked out on stage to introduce performers

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at the annual arts gala, which is sort of the

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presidential equivalent of your dad insisting he dj your wedding.

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This is the first time a sitting president has ever

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hosted the Kennedy Center Honors, which previously involved presidents just

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showing up and sitting quietly in a box like normal people.

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But Trump took over the Kennedy Center back in February.

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And when I say took over, I mean he fired

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everyone and appointed himself chairman. He's literally his own boss

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at this thing. The man gave himself a promotion at

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an art center. The honorees included Kiss, George Strait, Sylvester Stallone,

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Michael Crawford from Phantom of the Opera, and Gloria Gaynor.

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Trump said he personally selected them from a list of

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about fifty names, which means somewhere there's a rejected nominee

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crying into their Tony Award. He also joked that he

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might nominate himself next year, and honestly, at this point,

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why wouldn't he. He's already hosting the show and running

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the building. Speaking of the building, Trump told reporters on

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the red carpet that JFK would have done a very

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good job hosting, but couldn't handle construction projects. I build

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better than anybody, Trump said, So apparently we're now comparing

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ourselves to the guy the building is named after. That's confidence.

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The whole thing had a very different vibe than usual. Normally,

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the Kennedy Center Honors is where Washington's elite and Hollywood

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Royalty mingle over Champagne. This year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegsath

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showed up, Doctor Oz was there, Carry Lake made an appearance.

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The Hollywood crowd was noticeably down, according to reports, which

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is one way to describe mass cancelations. But here's the thing.

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The fundraising worked. The Center raised twenty three million dollars

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this year, almost double last year's total of twelve point

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seven million. So Trump turned the Kennedy Center Honors into

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basically a magadonor event and it made more money than ever.

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I'm not saying it's good. I'm just saying it's working.

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Trump introduced most of the acts via pre recorded video,

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which is very much in keeping with his hosting style.

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Show up, say some things, let someone or else do

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the actual work. He praised Michael Crawford for his unbelievable

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voice and called him a once in a generation talent,

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which is true. Crawford originated the role of the Phantom

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on Broadway. Trump plays the Phantom soundtrack at his rallies,

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so at least this one makes sense. The tributes themselves

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were actually quite nice. Kurt Russell talked about Sylvester Stallone

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and joked that when Stallone gives you a love tap.

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It's like a sledgehammer hitting your shoulder. Brooks and Dunn

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performed for George strait L King, saying I will survive

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for Gloria Gaynor while wearing fur under strobe lights, which

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sounds less like a tribute and more like a fever dream.

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And Kiss got their moment complete with a smoking guitar

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appearing on stage in memory of Ace Frehley, who died

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in October. His daughter accepted his medal on Saturday. Trump

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called Kiss a great rock and roll institution that pushed

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the boundaries with their pyrotechnics and makeup, which is accurate

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if you ignore that they also pushed the boundaries of

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merchandising by putting their logo on caskets. The show won't

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air until December twenty third on CBS, so we'll all

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get to watch this again in a few weeks, which

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means somewhere a CBS executive is trying to figure out

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how to promote the president hosts an award show without

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it sounding like a constitutional crisis. The whole weekend was

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Trump branded from start to finish. There was an Oval

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Office metal ceremony on Saturday that was televised for the

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first time ever, followed by a private dinner at the

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State Department. Trump's been reshaping the honors around his personal

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tastes and instincts, which is a polite way of saying

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he's turned a nonpartisan art celebration into something with a

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guest list that looks like a cabinet meeting. But ticket

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sales have been plunging all year, and the Center's been

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dealing with mass resignations since Trump's February takeover. So they

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raised a record amount of money from people who wanted

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to be there while losing money from people who used

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to want to be there. That's just math with extra steps.

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The Kennedy Center Honors used to be this elegant, above

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the fray event where Democrats and Republicans could sit in

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the same room and appreciate the arts together. Now it's

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the president hosting a show at a building he chairs,

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honoring people he personally selected while his appointees sit in

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the audience. Breaking news from the Tower of London, where

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dessert just got political, a group called Take Back Power

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decided to turn the Crown Jewels display into the world's

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most expensive food fight, Apple Crumble and custard, because nothing

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says political revolution quite like British pudding terrorism. These protesters

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are basically the culinary equivalent of political performance art. They

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smeared food on a display case containing a crown so

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fancy it makes your grandma's jewelry look like costume party accessories.

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We're talking about a crown with two eight hundred and

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sixty eight diamonds. Eight hundred and sixty eight. I've seen

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fewer sparkles at a Las Vegas drag show, and their

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brilliant protest sign democracy has crumbled tax the rich. Apparently

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the best way to make an economic statement is to

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weaponize dessert, move over pitchforks. We're now fighting capitalism with custard.

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The best part the police literally took two protesters into custardy.

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I'm not making this up. Someone in the London Police

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Department is definitely proud of that dad joke. This isn't

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even the first time protesters have turned art into a

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food fight. Last year, someone threw tomato soup on a

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van go. I guess these activists think famous artworks are

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just really expensive canvases waiting for a culinary makeover. The

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crown survived by the way, eight hundred and sixty eight

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diamonds aren't taking down a dessert attack that easily. This

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crown has survived, coronations, centuries, and now an apple crumble

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miss assault. Just another day in British political protest where

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the revolution is served with the site of Custard. Portions

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of today's show were made with the help of AI