While presenting diplomas at the US Air Force Academy’s graduation ceremony in Colorado, US President Joe Biden stumbled and fell.
At 80 years old, Mr. Biden is the country’s oldest president currently in office. He was helped back to his feet and didn’t seem wounded.
About an hour and a half had passed while the president stood to shake hands with each of the 921 graduating cadets.
He is alright, according to the head of communications for the White House.
After falling to the ground on Thursday, Ben LaBolt posted on Twitter, “There was a sandbag on stage while he was shaking hands.”
The president smiled as he told reporters upon his return to the White House that evening, “I got sandbagged.
According to an earlier account from the White House press pool, Mr. Biden tripped on a black sandbag as he entered the platform.
As he was being lifted up by an Air Force official and two members of his Secret Service detail, Mr. Biden is seen on surveillance footage appearing to point at one of the two sandbags that were being used to support his teleprompter.
Shortly after the mishap, when the ceremony came to a close, he was spotted strolling back to his seat on his own and later jogging back to his motorcade.
The president did not answer questions when he got back to his plane, the pool reporter added.
According to Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary for the White House, Mr. Biden was “totally fine” and had boarded the aircraft with “a big smile.”
Some have argued that Mr. Biden is too elderly to seek reelection as president.
According to recent polls, the majority of US citizens are worried about his senior age. If he wins, he would begin a second term at the age of 82.
These worries might be heightened by the fact that he previously fell while riding his bicycle and while ascending the Air Force One stairs.
The incident was addressed by former president Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner to take against Mr. Biden in the 2024 presidential election, who said “the whole thing is crazy” while attending a campaign event in Iowa.
The 76-year-old Mr. Trump, who frequently makes fun of Mr. Biden’s age, said, “I hope he wasn’t hurt.” “That doesn’t inspire me,”
“You must use caution in this situation since you do not want that. Even if you have to tip toe down the ramp,” continued Mr. Trump, seemingly alluding to his own cautious exit from a platform in 2020 that garnered media attention.
He dismissed the subsequent media inquiries about his health as fake news at the time by claiming that the ramp at the US Military Academy in West Point, New York, was slick.
During a campaign stop in New Hampshire, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis—another potential Republican nominee for 2024—also commented on the incident: “We hope and wish Joe Biden a swift recovery from any injuries he may have sustained.”We also want to wish the United States of America a speedy recovery from the harm Joe Biden’s actions have caused.
The most recent health exam for Mr. Biden was performed in February.
At the time, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the White House physician, stated: “The President remains fit for duty, and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations.”
Dr. O’Connor continued by stating that Mr. Biden’s condition had not changed since his previous examination in November 2021, despite walking with a “stiffened gait” mostly brought on by nerve damage in his feet and wear and tear on his spine.
Mr. Biden is not the first head of state to stumble in front of the cameras.
President Gerald Ford stumbled down the stairs of Air Force One in 1975, while President Barack Obama tripped while climbing stairs at a 2012 ceremony.
