Secretary of State Marco Rubio described spending roughly 90 minutes aboard Air Force One with other officials unsure whether to intervene as an unidentified person remained completely motionless in a conference room.
Rubio recounted the incident during an appearance on the Katie Miller Podcast, explaining that he and other officials returning from China faced an unusual dilemma. The person had slept through considerable noise and was not responding to stimuli, raising concerns among those present.
The officials hesitated to act, caught between two worrying scenarios. “Because it’s embarrassing if you wake them up,” Rubio said, imagining the person might respond, “Oh, I was just sleeping.” But the alternative posed a far more serious problem, he explained.
The Deliberation
“But if they were dead, like what do you do?” Rubio said. “You have a dead body on the plane. Who’s going to – what do you deal with that?” he continued, describing the logic that kept officials from making a move.
Rubio noted that “the breathing pattern was difficult,” which added to the group’s growing concern about the individual’s condition. Despite their worries, no one summoned the plane’s physician or attempted to wake the person during the approximately 90-minute discussion.
The situation resolved itself without any official intervention. “Luckily, the person was fine,” Rubio said, though he declined to identify who had been sleeping so deeply aboard the aircraft.
Mystery and Speculation
Rubio’s refusal to name the individual prompted immediate speculation on social media about potential identities. “The person was probably Mitch McConnell,” one X user speculated, while others joked about how they would have simply woken the person without hesitation.
No evidence has emerged supporting any of the identities suggested online. Rubio offered no additional details about the exact date of the flight, the other officials involved, or any other identifying information about the sleeping passenger.
The anecdote gained particular attention given Rubio’s previous involvement in a separate sleeping-related controversy. During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing roughly a month earlier, Democratic California Rep. Ted Lieu questioned whether Rubio had witnessed President Trump fall asleep in meetings.
Previous Congressional Exchange
“Secretary Rubio, have you been at more than one meeting where President Trump has fallen asleep?” Lieu asked. “I’ve never seen him fall asleep,” Rubio responded. “On the contrary, the guy doesn’t sleep, which is a big problem,” he added, noting that Trump’s demanding schedule keeps administration officials busy.
Lieu pressed the issue, stating he possessed video footage from a cabinet meeting that appeared to show Trump with his eyes closed while Rubio was speaking. “Secretary Rubio, I’m going to show you, in a moment, a video that shows you just lied to Congress,” Lieu said.
Rubio maintained his position that he had never witnessed Trump fall asleep. No formal congressional action related to Lieu’s accusation has been publicly reported.
This story has been updated. CNN’s Politics team contributed to this report.
