US President Joe Biden stumbled and fell three times on the steps of Air Force One airplane on Friday, prompting fresh questions about his health, it has emerged.
It was not immediately clear what tripped Biden up the first time, but shortly after recovering he fell twice more before dusting himself off. Security officials, meanwhile, looked on with concern from the ground.
America’s oldest president, 78, recovered from the fall to give a salute at the top of the stairs before departing to meet with Asian American community leaders in the wake of the massage parlour massacre in Atlanta, Georgia.
Read Also: Anti-Asian Fears: Man Charged With Murder For Killing 8 At Atlanta Spas; Six Victims Were Asian
Speaking after the incident, Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told White House reporters that the president was “doing fine” after the fall.
Reporters travelling with Biden said it had been a windy morning at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where Air Force One took off.
Also speaking about the fall, Kate Bedingfield, White House Communications Director, expressed;
He is doing 100 per cent fine. I know folks have seen that President Biden slipped on his way up the stairs to AF1, but I’m happy to report that he is just fine and did not even require any attention from the medical team who travels with him. Nothing more than a misstep on the stairs.
Back in November, Biden suffered a fracture in his right foot playing with dog Major, after which he was required him to wear a boot for weeks.
Read Also: Joe Biden’s German Shepherd Dogs Moved Out Of White House After Biting Security Agent
He was forced to wear the orthopaedic boot for “several weeks” after x-rays revealed a “hairline fracture” in his foot.
Biden, who has said he uses a Peloton bike to keep fit, often makes a point of jogging in a show of his fitness.
However, the triple tumble comes amid question over the ageing president’s mental and physical fitness for office after referring to his vice president as “President Harris”.
Half of Americans were “not confident” that Mr Biden was “physically and mentally up to the job”, with some concerned he hasn’t yet held a press conference, according to a Rasmussen poll in March.
Throughout the election campaign he has engaged in numerous malapropisms, slurred words, mispronouncing words and misidentifying people, such as calling his wife Jill, his sister.
A senior pro-Kremlin politician in Russia accused Biden of having dementia on Thursday, striking back after the the US president called his counterpart Vladimir Putin a “killer“.
Read Also: ‘It Takes One To Know One’ – Putin Reacts To Biden Calling Him A Killer
Republican detractors have long claimed the president is suffering from senility.
Following the incident, gleeful Donald Trump Jnr, tweeted a clip of the fall, saying;
I remember the press bashing Trump for touching the rail once. Biden falls repeatedly but I’m sure he’s the picture of health. No wonder all our enemies are pouncing simultaneously and mocking him publicly.
I remember the press bashing Trump for touching the rail once. Biden falls repeatedly but I’m sure he’s the picture of health. No wonder all our enemies are pouncing simultaneously and mocking him publicly. pic.twitter.com/R1qN9DDHFW
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 19, 2021
The president’s latest medical report showed no signs of any degenerative disease. Biden survived two brain aneurysms in the late 1980s — one did not rupture. And while the condition was later complicated by subsequent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, his doctor at the time stated there was no serious threats to his health and medical conditions.
Despite this, a new poll shows the number of Americans who approve of Biden has grown steadily since he took office, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling released on Friday, driven by concrete steps his administration has taken to address the public health and economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
