Joe Biden takes exhausting fall at Air Power Academy graduation ceremony
President Biden fell on stage Thursday after congratulating graduating cadets at the Air Power Academy in Colorado — drawing gasps from the gang as onlookers rushed to assist the commander-in-chief to his ft.
As the president acquired up, he pointed at a black sandbag on the stage, indicating that he had stumbled over the item.
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Biden fell after saluting and shaking fingers with the graduates. Earlier, he delivered the graduation handle to the latest members of the Air Power and Area Power.
White Home Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated later Thursday that Biden was “completely advantageous” and that he beamed “an enormous smile” when he boarded Air Power One for his return journey to Washington.
When reporters requested Biden how he was feeling, the president mouthed an inaudible reply to journalists earlier than taking off for the White Home, in line with a pool report.
Biden, 80, is the oldest-ever president and is in search of a second time period in subsequent yr’s election. He has tripped or stumbled no less than 4 occasions earlier than on the steps of Air Power One — drawing embarrassing protection and comparisons to a high-profile 1975 incident involving then-President Gerald Ford.
Former President Donald Trump was knowledgeable of Biden’s fall as he delivered remarks to a crowd in Iowa, saying in response, “He really fell down? Nicely, I hope he wasn’t harm.”
The 2024 Republican presidential candidate appeared to commiserate with Biden and recalled his personal treacherous walks as commander-in-chief.
“You gotta watch out about that since you don’t need that, even when you need to tip-toe down the ramp,” stated Trump, recalling a viral second in June 2020 when he gingerly descended a ramp after delivering the graduation speech on the US Army Academy at West Level.
“That’s a foul place to fall,” Trump later stated of Biden’s tumble. “That’s not inspiring.”
Different conservatives had been fast to react to the autumn, with Judiciary Watch president Tom Fitton tweeting: “I hope President Biden is unhurt from this fall which dramatically and additional illustrates his age-related cognitive and bodily challenges.”
“You can not have it each methods,” added discuss present host Ben Shapiro. “Both Biden is completely match and him falling down is humorous significantly as a result of he’s completely match, or he isn’t bodily match and we shouldn’t chuckle as a result of it’s harmful for an 80-year-old man to fall down.”
The president obtained a comparatively clear invoice of well being in February following his annual bodily, although a skin-cancer lesion was discovered and presidential doctor Dr. Kevin O’Connor famous Biden’s “spinal arthritis” and stiff gait.
Biden’s “gait stays stiff, however has not worsened since final yr,” O’Connor wrote. “After cautious evaluation… the workforce concluded that a lot of his stiffness is actually a results of degenerative (‘put on and tear’) osteoarthritic adjustments (or spondylosis) of his backbone.”
In a November 2021 report, O’Connor wrote that he investigated Biden’s “perceptibly stiffer” gait and attributed it to “[a] mixture of serious spinal arthritis, post-fracture ‘limp and compensation’ and a gentle sensory peripheral neuropathy of the ft.”
Biden fractured his foot shortly after profitable the 2020 election. He stated it occurred when he playfully tugged his then-dog Main’s tail following a bathe.
Biden could be 86 if he completes a second four-year time period and his age looms as a legal responsibility. A Washington Submit-ABC ballot launched this month discovered that simply 32% of the general public believes Biden has the psychological sharpness required to be president.
The president’s psychological acuity got here underneath intense scrutiny in September of final yr when he requested “The place’s Jackie?” and looked for the late Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) regardless of publicly mourning her demise and even calling her household to supply his condolences in August.
