Woman Denies Having Secret Button to "Wake Up Trump" in Oval Office
A woman who went viral this week after appearing to secretly wake President Trump during an Oval Office event has a much simpler explanation for the hand-on-stomach gesture that launched a thousand conspiracy theories: she's pregnant.
Jayme Franklin, founder of the conservative lifestyle brand The Conservateur, was standing behind Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during an Aug. 10 Oval Office ceremony, where Trump signed an executive order addressing childhood vaccination recommendations. As NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya spoke, Trump appeared to briefly close his eyes and tilt his head. Around the same time, viewers noticed Franklin's hand tighten against her stomach, just before Trump reopened his eyes and sat upright.
How "The Zapper" Was Born
The moment, captured on video and viewed tens of millions of times, quickly took on a life of its own online. Writer Tim Brannigan shared a breakdown of the clip written like an intelligence report. "Claims she has a button fitted on her belly, and when she gets the nod that he's asleep she moves her hand and presses a button that wakes him," Brannigan wrote. "They're calling her The Zapper. No idea if it's true but it appears to line up."
The nickname stuck, and social media users ran with the bit, joking that Franklin was secretly serving as a human remote control for the president. "Bro's getting rebooted like a malfunctioning laptop!" one commenter wrote.
Franklin Sets the Record Straight
Franklin addressed the theory head-on, quoting one of the viral posts and responding with a now widely shared reply. "I'm just pregnant you weirdos," she wrote on X, alongside laughing and crying emojis. She confirmed she's expecting her second child, and that the gesture was simply her resting a hand on her stomach while standing for an extended period in a room full of cameras and senior officials.
Despite the retraction from many who'd shared the theory, some corners of the internet continued speculating even after her explanation, prompting Franklin to keep responding good-naturedly to the ongoing jokes.
Why She Was in the Oval Office
Franklin, who worked as a coalitions coordinator on Trump's 2020 campaign and later served as a director of correspondence in his first White House, said she was invited to the event by Kennedy to speak about parental choice regarding childhood vaccines. During the ceremony, she explained her perspective directly. "I'm a mom. I have a three-and-a-half-year-old and another one on the way," Franklin said. "No parents should feel the pressure of, immediately their child is born, and a bunch of vaccines are pressured and pushed upon them. This is about freedom at the end of the day. This is what this country was built on. Freedom for parents to make the decisions that best suit their kid."
She was careful to clarify her position isn't opposition to vaccines broadly. "I'm not anti-vaccine at all. I'm pro-vaccine. But we want to be able to have the freedom to space it out and choose which one works for our child," she said. "We don't believe that there's a one-size-fits-all solution for every child."
Franklin later reflected on the appearance in a separate post, calling it an honor. "Parents deserve the freedom to make informed decisions" about their children's health, she wrote.
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