President

joe

Biden fell on stage at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation on Thursday, and the White House said he was fine after tripping over a sandbag.

Biden had greeted the graduates in Colorado Springs, Colo.

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, at the front of the stage with gun salutes and handshakes, and turned to run back to his seat when he fell. He was aided by an Air Force officer and two members of his US Secret Service.

Spectators, including some members of the official delegation on stage, watched with concern before Biden, who at 80 is the oldest president in U.S. history, returned to his seat to watch the end of the ceremony.

He’s fine, White House communications director Ben LaBolt tweeted. There was a sandbag on stage as he shook hands. Two small black sandbags stood on stage in support of the teleprompter used by Biden and other speakers.

Biden has been dogged by questions about his age and fitness to serve, and his indiscretions have become fodder for political rivals as he campaigns for a second term in office in 2024. He has stumbled before climbing the stairs and onto Air Force One went. once got caught in his bike pedals while stopping to talk to reporters near his home in Rehoboth Beach, Del

conscious

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Biden’s personal physician said after the president’s most recent physical exam in February that Biden remains a healthy, vigorous 80-year-old man fit to successfully perform the duties of the presidency. Dr Kevin O’Connor also documented the president’s stiffened gait, which O’Connor said was due to spinal arthritis, a previous broken foot and neuropathy in

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Biden’s feet.

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Biden is far from the first national political figure to stumble in public.

President

gerald

Ford fell down when he walked off Air Force One in 1975. Kansas GOP Senator Bob Dole, the then-GOP presidential nominee, fell off the podium at a 1996 campaign rally.

Barak

Obama tripped as he walked up the stairs to a podium at an event in 2012. I was so excited I missed a flight of stairs, he told the crowd.

President

Donald

Trump’s cautious walk up a ramp at the 2020 West Point start also sparked concerns about his health.

The 76-year-old Trump was campaigning in Iowa when he learned about Biden’s stumbling block and alluded to his own episode.

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Did you actually fall? Well, I hope he wasn’t hurt, Trump said after an onlooker told him what happened to Biden. The whole thing is crazy. You have to be careful with that… because you don’t want that, even if you have to tiptoe down a slope.

The audience laughed as Trump slowly talked about how he was slowly working his way down what he said had been a slippery slope in graduation from the US military academy.

If he has fallen, it is a pity, said the former president. We just need to get this thing back on track. That’s a bad place to fall if you’re making, I think it was the Air Force Academy, right? That’s not inspiring.