Lame-duck President Joe Biden appeared to fall asleep during the Lobito Corridor Trans-Africa summit.
A video shows Sleepy Joe nodding off during a meeting about trains at the event in Angola, Africa.
Biden, during his visit to Angola, announced a $2.5 billion U.S.-backed railway corridor through the continent.
But, twice during a discussion with African officials and U.S. business leaders who are investing in the Lobito Trans-Africa Corridor, the 82-year-old president closed his eyes for at least a minute. At one point, his hand twitched and he dropped something.
Reporters traveling with him noted Biden looked tired. The president was on the final day of a three-day trip to sub-Saharan Africa.
At some points, he took notes as others spoke.
Biden’s voice was also “foggy and hoarse” by the end of the hour-long meeting, the Daily Mail reported.
Biden had previously told attendees about how much he loves trains.
He told how he commuted daily on Amtrak from his Wilmington, Delaware home to Washington D.C. when he was a senator.
“Mr. President I’m coming back to ride on the train all the way from end to end,” he told Angola President João Lourenço during a speech.
He recalled his old 212-mile daily commute between Wilmington and Washington.
“I like trains a lot. So I’m coming back. You’re stuck with me,” Biden added.
Biden has pledged to heavily invest American taxpayer money in the refurbishment of Africa’s 800-mile Lobito Corridor.
The Lobito Corridor consists of train lines in Zambia, Congo, and Angola.
During the trip, Biden used the trip to announce a $2.5 billion U.S.-backed investment in the Lobito Corridor.
“Africa has been left behind for much too long,” Biden said.
“But not anymore. Africa is the future.”
The goal of the project is to advance U.S. interests in a region rich in cobalt, copper, and other critical minerals used in batteries for electric vehicles, electronic devices, and other technologies.
However, during a meeting with African officials and U.S. business leaders involved in the corridor, Biden twice closed his eyes for at least a minute.
At one point, his hand twitched, and he dropped something he was holding.
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Reporters traveling with Biden noted that he appeared fatigued.
Biden wants to use the project as part of his push to counter China’s growing influence in Africa.
China has heavy investments in mining and processing African minerals.
The Chinese Communist Party has used its Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure strategy to promote its economic and political influence.
In September, China said it had signed a deal with Tanzania and Zambia to revamp a separate railway line going east from Zambia to Tanzania’s commercial hub of Dar es Salaam on Africa’s east coast.
The corridor won’t be completed for years, however.
Much of the work would come during the administration of President Donald Trump.
The Biden White House says Republicans in Congress have supported past efforts to promote African business interests through targeted investments and that such initiatives have appealed to Trump and his key advisers in the past.
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