The US President has fallen – and not for the first time. Similar incidents have caused a stir in the past. An overview.
Joe Biden stumbles over a sandbag on stage – and the debate in the USA promptly revolves around the alleged frailty of the US President. Because it is far from the first time that the 80-year-old falls in public. The President’s mishaps are repeatedly brought out by his political opponents, although he claims to be in the best of health.
The stumbling president had already caused a stir in February: In February, after a meeting with eastern NATO partners in Poland, he fell down the steps to Air Force One. However, Biden was able to recover quickly back then.
However, it was not the first such incident: in March 2021, a video that showed the US President before leaving for Georgia caused a sensation. When Biden climbed the steps to the presidential machine, he missed a step and stumbled several times.
About a year ago, Biden fell off his bike while on a road trip with his wife, Jill, stopping near their home in Delaware to speak to reporters and passers-by. According to the White House, his foot caught in the toe clip while dismounting. Even then, according to his own statement, nothing happened to him.
Biden is now the oldest US President ever
Joe Biden was sworn in as the oldest president of all time in early 2021. At the end of April he announced that he wanted to run again in the November 2024 election. Then he will be 81 years old, at the end of his possible second term 86. His doctor had certified him in February to be “healthy and strong”. The President is only a bit stiff – the result of arthritis and a mild nerve disease in the feet.
It is still unclear who will challenge the President: the Republican favorite is currently Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump. He was also noticed in the past with suspected signs of aging. In June 2020, as president, he appeared extremely unsteady on the sidelines of a speech at the West Point Military Academy as he descended a ramp from the stage.
The ramp was made of steel and had no railings, he was wearing slippery shoes with leather soles and didn’t want to fall, Trump later said as justification. The ex-president will be 77 in a few days, making him only slightly younger than Biden.
