A recent video captured President Biden nearly stumbling while ascending the steps of Air Force One on Tuesday, prompting social media users to question his stamina and physical fitness.
Critics, particularly conservatives, seized upon another near-stumble—this time on the plane’s new, shorter stairs—as evidence that Biden is “falling apart in real time.”
Some even humorously suggested that he might eventually need to be carried up the stairs on a “stretcher.”
Following a salute to U.S. military personnel at the base of the new stairs, Biden continued his climb but stumbled, steadying himself with the handrail.
Given the ongoing scrutiny of his mental sharpness and physical endurance, Tuesday’s video did little to allay those concerns.
Fox News contributor Leo Terrell quipped, “Joe is afraid of stairs!”
The New York Times recently reported that Biden Biden “started taking a short flight of stairs directly into the belly of Air Force One, rather than a tall stairway wheeled up to a higher point on the plane, after he tripped and fell over a sandbag during a commencement ceremony this past summer. Now, there is a Secret Service agent positioned at the bottom of the stairs.”