Biden appears to fall asleep during climate speech despite claiming it's 'greatest threat' to US security

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Biden appears to fall asleep during COP26 Climate Summit remarks

President Biden sits with his eyes closed, appearing to sleep during an opening speech at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland

Presidents — they’re just like us: Social media erupted on Monday when a viral video appeared to show President Biden dozing off during opening speeches at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference. 

The 78-year-old Biden – who warned military service members this summer that top Pentagon officials consider climate change to be the "greatest threat" to America’s national security in the coming years – sat with his arms crossed, appearing to drift in and out of sleep, in video shared by Washington Post reporter Zach Purser Brown. 

Biden appears to fall asleep during COP26 opening speeches

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"Biden appears to fall asleep during COP26 opening speeches," Purser Brown wrote to caption a video that showed Biden closing his eyes for extended periods of time before an aide approached him with some type of message. Biden was also seen wiping his eyes and the video quickly went viral, with many mocking the president for appearing to take a quick nap. 

Former President Trump has long referred to his political rival as "Sleepy Joe" and Monday’s video presumably won’t help make that nickname go away anytime soon. However, many conservatives joked that Biden nodding off during the climate conference was the most relatable thing he’s done as president.

The Federalist co-founder Sean Davis responded, "Can you blame him?"  

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A HuffPost reporter noted that the video was taken during a speech on climate's impact on disabled people. Many others joked that they would fall asleep, too, but they're not the president of the United States. 

"Holy s--t it looks like Biden fell asleep at the climate thing and an aide had to hustle over to wake him up," popular Twitter account Comfortably Smug observed.

Rep. Ralph Norman joked, "Sweet dreams, Mr. President." 

"Joe Biden... Wake up," political pundit Stephen L. Miller responded. 

Many others took to Twitter with thoughts on the footage: 

Biden’s apparent nap came after he was mocked over the weekend for appearing to call on a pre-approved list of reporters after meeting with the press following the G-20 summit in Rome. 

On Sunday, Biden discussed meeting with other world leaders in Rome to enact climate change initiatives. After his talk, he opened the floor to questions but admitted that he was told to start with the Associated Press.

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"And now I’m happy to take some questions. And I’m told I should start with AP, Zeke Miller," Biden said.

Biden has previously alluded to the idea that he had a list of pre-approved reporters to call on back multiple times, including in June following his Geneva visit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I’ll take your questions, and as usual, folks, they gave me a list of the people I’m going to call on," Biden told the press.

As a result, many critics have questioned if Biden is truly in charge of his interactions with the press. 

Fox News' Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.