BIDEN FALLS DURING GRADUATION AT US AIR FORCE ACADEMY GRADUATION CEREMONY

SOURCE AFP

President Joe Biden took a fall on stage at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation ceremony in Colorado on Thursday.

Biden, who delivered the commencement address and proceeded to shake hands with graduates, fell near the podium as he stepped away and was quickly helped back to his feet by Secret Service agents and an Air Force officer.

The president, 80, walked away unassisted once he was upright. He continued to stand and greet people for the remainder of the ceremony.

He appeared to trip on a black sandbag being used to steady his teleprompter, according to pool reporters traveling with him, and pointed back at it after he got up.

“He’s fine. There was a sandbag on stage while he was shaking hands,” Ben LaBolt, the White House communications director, tweeted as videos of the incident circulated online.

President Joe Biden is helped up after falling during the graduation ceremony at the United States Air Force Academy, just north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, June 1, 2023.

Biden’s age and fitness have been a factor in his reelection campaign. He is the oldest sitting president in history and would be 86 at the end of second term should he win again in 2024.