President Joe Biden again struggled to navigate the stairs of Air Force One – stumbling briefly as he boarded the presidential plane on Saturday as it departed Selma, Alabama.
The latest swing comes less than two weeks after he tripped on the stairs as he boarded the plane after a whirlwind three-day visit to Europe, which included a 10-hour train ride to and from Kyiv, the war-torn Ukrainian capital.
The president, 80, also fell down the stairs of Air Force One just two months into his administration in March 2021.
In June, he fell off his bike while spending a weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
One of his biggest vulnerabilities in the 2024 presidential campaign cycle – if Biden runs – will be his age, with Republican candidate Nikki Haley already calling on politicians over 75 to submit to ‘proficiency tests’ .
President Joe Biden again struggled to navigate the stairs of Air Force One – stumbling briefly as he boarded the presidential plane on Saturday as it departed Selma, Alabama
FEBRUARY 2023: Biden concluded his *trip* to Ukraine and Poland by falling down the stairs of Air Force One on his way back to the US
MARCH 2021: Biden clings to the railing as he stumbles aboard Air Force One, just two months into his administration
Biden also fell off his bike near his Delaware beach house after struggling to get his feet off the toe clips.
On Saturday, former President Donald Trump, 76, who announced a presidential run in November, ridiculed Biden for his stumbles.
“We all smile when he falls down the stairs and stuff, it’s cute, when he falls off his bike,” he joked with the crowd at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, of which Trump was the host. Headlining.
“You know what surprises me? continues the ex-president. “The reporters didn’t catch him when the bike was falling, they were just standing next to him. They let him down,” he said.
‘It’s incredible.’
Biden was biking with First Lady Jill Biden around a trail near their Rehoboth Beach vacation home when members of a crowd that had gathered invited him to wish her a Happy Father’s Day.
The president stopped his bike but then fell to the side when his right foot got stuck in the toe clip. Reporters tried to catch the president, but he was quickly overrun by Secret Service agents.
He got up after only a few seconds on the ground.
Biden’s downfalls follow in the footsteps of several modern presidents.
Presidents Barack Obama and Gerald Ford each had trouble with the stairs on the presidential plane, while Trump boarded the plane with toilet paper stuck to his shoe.
The most memorable example came on June 1, 1975, when Republican President Gerald Ford fell down the slippery stairs of Air Force One as he arrived in Salzburg, Austria.
The late President Gerald Ford is helped by a military aide after he slipped and fell down the steps as he disembarked from Air Force One June 1, 1975 during an overseas trip to Salzburg, Austria.
President Gerald Ford is helped to his feet after rolling down the steps of Air Force One in 1975 during a trip to Austria
Former Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer recalled another incident, this one from the 1976 election campaign.
He remembers reporting that Ford tripped, missed the door, then hit his head as he tried to leave the back platform of a train in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
There were also several stories about Ford falling while skiing.
Decades before, Ford nearly fell overboard while serving as a World War II navigation officer on the USS Monterey.
A wave crashed on the deck of the ship. Ford was saved because his foot got caught in a grate, the story goes.
That moment was remembered in a statue of Ford displayed on the USS Ford, when the ship is not deployed, according to Insider.
If you look closely, you can see that one of the statue’s feet is stuck in a grid.
Former President Barack Obama briefly tripped on the stairs of Air Force One on March 30, 2015 while returning to Washington after a golf trip to Florida
Former President Donald Trump can be seen with toilet paper stuck to his shoe while boarding Air Force One bound for Minneapolis in 2018
Toilet paper can be seen stuck to former President Donald Trump’s shoe as he walks to Marine One after leaving New York on November 12, 2019
Ford’s clumsiness also became part of his pop culture persona, with Saturday Night Live cast member Chevy Chase using it in his presidential tunes of the era.
When elected in 2008, President Barack Obama ranked among the nation’s youngest presidents.
In particular, he transformed the White House tennis court into a place where he played basketball games with staff members.
Still, Air Force One’s footsteps have become a challenge for the Democratic leader.
He tripped on the stairs on March 30, 2015 after returning from a golf trip to Florida;
Trump didn’t make any notable falls, but that didn’t distract from his toes.
There were at least two instances where it appeared he had toilet paper stuck to his shoe.
In October 2018, he boards Air Force One bound for Minneapolis and a white sheet appears stuck to his left shoe.
And then in November 2019, as he was leaving New York, it seems toilet paper got stuck again.
Additionally, Trump was ridiculed for the way he walked down a ramp at West Point in June 2020.
He later said his odd walk was due to the ramp being “slippery” – despite it being a sunny day – and because he was wearing “leather shoes”, which are also “slippery”. he declared.
