‘Daily Show’ trolls Trump over vacant reaction to fainting man in Oval Office
President Donald Trump became the subject of late-night ridicule after he appeared motionless as a man fainted behind him during an Oval Office event on Thursday.
The president was announcing new price cuts for weight-loss drugs when a guest standing nearby collapsed, prompting others, including Dr. Mehmet Oz, to rush to his aid.
Man passes out during President Trump’s press conference on pharmaceuticals today.
Pray he’s okay.
🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/SUNjm6liOEWhile the man was quickly attended to and later confirmed to be fine, footage of Trump staring blankly into the distance went viral within minutes, and The Daily Show wasted no time joining the mockery.
“Your cat when you’re choking to death in your apartment,” the show’s official X account quipped, posting a photo of Trump staring ahead as the commotion unfolded behind him.
Your cat when you're choking to death in your apartment pic.twitter.com/CGtUtqwrLb
On Thursday night’s episode, guest host Jordan Klepper called it “one of the greatest images of the Trump presidency,” joking, “Everyone is attending to this guy. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is zoned out like he’s in a marriage counseling session.”
Klepper later revisited the image, saying, “Our reality right now is that the president is spending his time doting on pet projects and starting new wars, while the country scrambles to deal with immediate crises he’s actively ignoring. If only there were a picture that captured that perfectly.”
Political commentator Ron Filipkowski added on X, “When the attention and headline at a Trump press conference becomes about someone other than Trump,” while others joked that the fainting man “still looked healthier than Trump.”
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove also weighed in, writing, “Trump can’t even check on someone collapsing in the Oval Office right in front of him. What makes you think he’d give a damn about your health care?”
But Trump’s allies pushed back. Dr. Oz, who serves as administrator for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told MSNBC that Trump later called the man’s wife to reassure her.
“He talked to her and got her much calmer than I could have done,” Oz said. “He’s a wonderful human being, he actually cared that the wife of a man he’s never met felt safer.”
The White House has not commented on the incident, but the clip has already inspired countless memes, and a new wave of late-night jokes, about Trump’s ability to react under pressure.