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 hurt.
About an hour and a half had passed while the president stood to shake hands with each of the 921 graduating cadets.
He is well, according to the White House communications director.
After falling to the ground on Thursday, Ben LaBolt posted on Twitter, “There was a sandbag on stage while he was shaking hands.”
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.
🚨 BREAKING: Joe Biden falls at the Air Force Graduation
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 1, 2023
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.