Biden falls at US Air Force Academy graduation ceremony
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 and was quickly assisted by those around him in returning to his feet.
Biden, 80, walked away unassisted once he was upright. He continued to stand and greet people for the remainder of the ceremony.
Biden appeared to trip on a black sandbag, according to pool reporters traveling with the president, 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.
Biden didn't take questions as he boarded Air Force One following the hourslong commencement.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also said Biden is "totally fine" while she boarded Air Force One, according to the reporters traveling with Biden.
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The perils of an 85 year old President...
Tripping is a peril of being bipodal ... everyone gets to experience it.
Yes, but you would think most people in that kind of setting would watch where they're walking....
Just saying...
Hell, I'm only 68 and experience the occasional trip and fall.
Good thing my every move isn't filmed by the press and critiqued by my detractors.
Perhaps it is...
Is President Biden really 85 years old?
No, he just turned 80...
I know. I read it in the seeded article (above). My question wonders why Sean, didn't see it in the article. But rather than self-correct inside of 12 hours, he seems to have chose to take a pass.
Forgive my mistake. He's does a top notch impression of an 85 year old and I was fooled by his apparent age.
What is a "top notch impression" of an 85 year old? And once you attempt to establish that 85 year olds are inclined to falling and not getting up; Biden got up and stated up (and President) without anybody invoking the 25 amendment on disability. Again, you are reaching for relevancy. Additionally, your comment clearly demonstrates you don't feel you have make any mistake at all. Yet, evidently you got our current president's age wrong!
What is a "top notch impression" of an 85 year old?
He acts like an 85 year old man
Yeah, that's circular reasoning. That is, "just because you say so." It's akin to saying a 5 year old acts like a ten year old. . . a 20 year old acts like a 25 year old. . . a 30 year old acts like a 35 year old. . . and in each case it signifies nothing. What a waste of time.
Did he land on a Republican at least ?
No as you might say: Republicans are all about 20 feet over his head.
Fox has now been gifted with the next 72 hours of their programming.
let us know what they have to say!
Of course. When ford fell, it took over our culture. When trump fell, politico and other left wing outlets lectured us why it mattered.
But Biden falling, again, will be ignored other than on fox. That’s the advantage of state media.
Too bad SNL is out of season.
Nah, Politico has an article out..
You betcha! Looks like the crowd had a good laugh at the clumsiness of the stumbling, bumbling, blathering idiot.
One of the reasons why I keep saying I wish I could be beamed back to the early 1950s. Back then, and before then, the press had the courtesy and integrity and empathy to have never have photographed or made a big thing about a POTUS or any celebrity falling. When FDR fell coming down the stairs from an airplane EVERY photographer lowered their cameras - refused to take a photo of that happening. These days people crave the opportunity to humiliate and insult others, revel in it - people have turned to shit, so please, Scotty, beam me back to the early 1950s.
Of course, Canadians have a history of not tolerating the kind of crap that opposing parties attempt to use to attack their adversary:
The ad had exposed the contortion in Jean Chretien's face caused by a serious case of Bell's Palsy, a condition that paralyzes face muscles.
Better than that, at an Iowa Town Hall last night we were told that it is sad and really nothing to laugh at:
Who laughs at old people falling down? Worse yet, who would seed an article about it?! What’s next? Maybe an article making fun of Biden’s dead kids?
Good point, presidents falling down have never been a source of humor in this country.
Be careful, you Might hurt the feelings of your fellow travelers who did the same about trump
Trump? Ford was late night show comedians' wet dream with his falls. Media never passed up a chance to show Ford at his worst.
When I saw this story I new it would be seeded.
This is one of the problems with an elderly individual in a high position (especially PotUS). Every little mistake will be exaggerated by opposing partisans.
Gerald Ford was deemed clumsy while PotUS. But if he was not in his early 60s at the time but rather late 70s or later, he would have been deemed frail, etc.
PotUS' should be roughly between 45 and 65, IMO.
Clumsy? Try telling that to the late night show comedians and media.
Clumsy. You are being far too polite for what his opponents and media called him. And yes his falls were used against him politically as well.
Someone needs to keep their emotions in check and evaluate events objectively.
What ever. Biden tripped. Doesn't matter. At least Biden can still ride a bicycle. And all jokes aside, for the MAGAs here, has 'the Trump' ever even ridden a bicycle or a tricycle for that matter?
Ha, at least till he has to stop...
All jokes aside, is there anything at all that can be discussed here without someone dragging Trump into it in a pitiful attempt to deflect?
Trump pledged to never ride a bicycle. He’s always been a serious issues guy.
trump is too unbalanced even to stay on a bike.
Which, of course, has nothing to do with Biden.
Must be another day ending in a "y", got to drag Trump into it for no reason.
is there a sane reason y'all do this?
They have to take the spotlight off these two guys
Do you like what they've done to the country?
FDR was paralyzed yet still lead the world through World War Two and out of The Great Depression. Joe Biden will be seen as a great President who stepped into the breach when called upon and who served with honor and dignity while suffering ridicule and derision for his mundane failings and basic human decency...
Much like Harry Truman!
Biden is no FDR or Truman... the fact that you can't see that is revealing.
Yet, against all odds Biden whooped Trump much like Truman unexpectedly beat Thomas Dewey, and he will again in 2024...
Mmmmkay, I don't really expect Trump to be the nominee. And to think that someone who has a hard time walking or talking will beat anyone is incredibly optimistic or partisan....
Yes, the gop derided FDR and Truman as old and weak and yet neither lost to the gop when running for President!
Yeah, Truman won election by falsely claiming his opponent was a nazi. I guess there's some similarities.
No, but Truman was falsely accused of Ku Klux Klan membership by Dewey and yet he won anyway...
Huh? So racism wasn't the issue that it is now?
Whoops!
It's been the same playbook since '48.
And Truman either joined the Klan or flirted with joining them to play to the democratic base. Just like Biden in the 70s! It's odd that you believe Truman's decision to join the KKK after it began a local cross burning campaign reflects well on him. B
And as a bonus history lesson. That poster is from '44, when Roosevelt beat Dewey.
Tell us how Truman became a Senator.
That would be a real democrat story.
Now, now, isn't that RICH!!!!
DoD loved Truman, he increased the DoD budget almost fourfold from 1950-1953. In 1952 it was 91% of all federal spending. It averaged over 75% for those four years.
Wasn't there something going on in Korea at that time?
Yes and a small amount of the increase was to fight in Korea. The big driver was National Security Council Paper NSC-68 or “United States Objectives and Programs for National Security”. It argued that the most pressing threat we faced was the Soviet Union. That the Soviet threat would soon be greatly increased by the addition of more weapons, including nuclear weapons. It recommended the we had to respond in kind with a massive build-up of to stop the USSR in Europe and build nuclear deterrence capability through mutually assured destruction (MAD). It rejected isolationism and recommended power projection around the world.
I take it that the majority of the budget was still dedicated to the nation's defense in those wonderful days?
And while Truman was ''flirting'' with joining the KKK he desegregated the US Military.
Truman was also called an anti-Semite yet he was the first world leader to officially recognize Israel as a legitimate Jewish state, eleven minutes after its creation.
Oh. I guess you are right. It was terribly unfair to attack Truman as KKK supporter in 1944, after he had decided to join the Klan in the middle of a cross burning campaign. Republicans should have known he'd desegregate the military in the future.
Man of principle that you are, I'm sure you'd never criticize DeSantis if he had decided to join the KKK in 2004. After all, you can't know what future DeSantis will do.
I never stated that it was unfair to attack Truman, I simply offered up facts about Truman that you didn't. If you are not able to accept those facts and have to whine about it, it simply shows that you, as always are nothing but a partisan that cannot accept anything that isn't in your limited view of our society/history.
Thank you so much and yes I do have principles, perhaps it's something that you could learn from. As far as DeSantis goes I didn't comment on him in my response to you since it was about Truman, yet as usual you deflect to DeSantis which seems to be your MO.
Why just a couple of weeks ago, something rather amazing happened to me-I fell backwards to the ground with a running lawn mower! All the while, I was holding onto the handle of my mower which kept its blade turning. One of my legs folded under me, the other leg shot out front of me, the mower reared up front, and as it turned out there was a 'stubbornly grounded' medium boulder that had been 'located' behind me and I tripped over it—thankfully I had the good fortune not to hit my head and the presence of mine to draw back my leg from the vicinity of the front of the raised mower running!
It can happen. Of course, after checking that my body was okay. My next step was to look around to see if anybody saw it. If somebody did they did not appear in public.
Of course, as I got it together, I turned off the mower and I went to tell my mis/fortunate incident to the family. We laughed (it off)! But, it as a serious moment that could have been horrible.
I am glad President Biden did not pitch forward and off the platform! Good job 'grounding' yourself, Mr. President.
That was quite a day for Joe. He couldn't think of the word pilots , fell down and to start it all off: hit his head on Marine One:
President Joe Biden appears to rub his head after reportedly hitting it while exiting Marine One on Thursday Credit: Rex Features
I think after this we may begin a daily journal entitled: Another day in the life of Joe Biden.
Couple that with:
And yet somehow the idiots expect everybody to believe that Biden is fit for office
Do you remember the old adage of the prosecutor, who, given the right jury, could indict a ham sandwich? It seems that democrats feel they can now win elections via the voting process they have set up and win with nothing more than a ham sandwich. The first time around this empty vessel was kept hidden away from the public and the media made the 2020 election about the pandemic shutdown & Trump's character. This time around the election should be a referendum on the incumbent, however the democrats have all kinds of legal issues/possible indictments facing Trump. That will soak up all the news coverage. I hate to say it, but the only way this becomes a referedum election is if somebody can beat Trump in the GOP primary.
The problem they face is there is nothing for him to run on. There have been absolutely zero accomplishments to tout. For that matter, there never were any accomplishments. He won solely on the "he's not Trump" mania.
They have been making that claim for almost a decade now. At this point, it's a matter of them stepping up.
Trump himself really isn't the answer. While he did far better than Obama and Biden I don't think he should be in the running. And he did one hell of a job exposing the left and the Democrats, but let the left and Democrats fall all over themselves going over that. There are better candidates that do fall in line with what Trump's goal was / is. They would be better fit.
He has done serious damage to the country. If the dumbass didn't do a thing, I'd be more than happy with him, but he served the most radical elements in the country.
They have been making that claim for almost a decade now. At this point, it's a matter of them stepping up.
I think they want the issue of possible indictments, but not a conviction or anything that might take him out of the race. They want to run against Trump again.
There are better candidates that do fall in line with what Trump's goal was / is. They would be better fit.
The GOP has a strong bench, which the democrats lack. The trick is how to take on Trump. I'm hoping Christie can do to Trump what he did to Rubio. Christie knows how to win debates, even when he lacks a good argument. He may be the key.
The Biden Administration would not force any women regardless of age to bear children.
Taxcuts to the undeserving and deregulation to aid polluters along with forced childbirth under law are the only accomplishments from GOP.
Had Trump been re-elected in 2020, Zelenski and his family would be dead, Ukraine would be under the Russian boot and the Western Democracies' would look at a United States as a nation that could not be counted on.
Christie? Honestly? GOP has become an autocratic party. Accept it.