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The little boy going viral after Donald Trump's State of the Union address.

 

Donald Trump gave his most presidential-sounding State of the Union address yet, but all the people of the internet are concerned with is the 11-year-old boy who fell asleep during it.

Joshua Trump, who is not related to the US president, stole the attention when he nodded off during the 82-minute speech. Which maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised about because what 11-year-old (or… anyone) could possibly sit through an 82-minute speech?

Of course, people on Twitter had their own interpretations, phrasing the nap as an act of defiance.

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The boy had been invited along to the annual event as one of 13 special guests after the president and First Lady Melania Trump heard about him being bullied at school because of his last name.

In December, the Washington Times reported that the grade six student from Delaware been the target of relentless bullying at school.

“They curse at him, they call him an idiot, they call him stupid,” his mother, Megan Trump, told the newspaper. “He said he hates himself, and he hates his last name, and he feels sad all the time.”

joshua-trump-asleep
Image: Getty
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The bullying, which started at the time of the 2016 presidential election, got so bad that his parents pulled him out of school and homeschooled him last year.

They had hoped the bullying wouldn’t continue at a new school, but it has, and now the boy is going by his father’s last name, Berto.

Many on social media accused the Trumps of exploiting the little boy. Others questioned why other children who suffered awful experiences weren't invited instead, also drawing attention to children who had died, including Trayvon Martin, a black 17-year-old who was shot by a neighbour in 2012.

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There was another child at the event to keep Joshua company.

The little girl sitting next to him was 10-year-old cancer survivor Grace Eline, who had raised $US40,000 (AU$56,000) for cancer research.