US President Joe Biden has tripped and fallen while handing out diplomas at a graduation ceremony for the US Air Force Academy in Colorado.
Mr Biden, who is
the nation's oldest serving president at 80, was helped back up to his feet and
appeared to be unhurt.
The president
had been standing for about an hour and a half to shake hands with each of the
921 graduating cadets.
The White House
communications director said earlier "he's fine".
"There was
a sandbag on stage while he was shaking hands," Ben LaBolt wrote on
Twitter after Thursday's fall.
"I got
sandbagged," the smiling president joked to reporters as he arrived back
at the White House that evening.
A White House
press pool report earlier said Mr Biden had tripped on a black sandbag while
moving on stage.
Footage of the
incident shows Mr Biden appearing to point at one of two sandbags used to prop
up his teleprompter as he was helped up by an Air Force official and two
members of his Secret Service detail.
He was seen
walking back to his seat unassisted and later jogging back to his motorcade
when the ceremony ended shortly after the accident.
'I hope he
wasn't hurt'
The pool
reporter added that the president did not take questions when he returned to
his plane.
White House
press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Mr Biden was feeling "totally
fine" and had boarded the plane flashing "a big smile".
Critics have
said Mr Biden is too old to run for a second term as president.
Recent polls
suggest a majority of US voters are concerned about his advanced age. He would
be 82 at the start of a second term if he wins.
This fall, in
addition to previous stumbles from his bicycle and on the way up the Air Force
One stairs, could add to those concerns.
Former President
Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner to face Mr Biden in the 2024 White
House election, reacted to the incident from a campaign event in Iowa, saying
"the whole thing is crazy".
"I hope he
wasn't hurt," said Mr Trump, 76, who has often poked fun at Mr Biden's
age. "That's not inspiring."
"You got to
be careful about that because you don't - you don't want that. Even if you have
to tip toe down the ramp," added Mr Trump, apparently referring to his own
careful walk off a stage that made headlines in 2020.
He said at the
time that the ramp at the US Military Academy in West Point, New York, was
slippery, and brushed aside the ensuing media questions about his own health as
fake news.
Florida Governor
Ron DeSantis, another 2024 contender for the Republican nomination, also
reacted to the fall during a campaign event in New Hampshire: "We hope and
wish Joe Biden a swift recovery from any injuries he may have sustained.
"But we
also wish the United States of America a swift recovery from the injuries it
has sustained because of Joe Biden and his policies."
Mr Biden's last
physical examination took place in February.
White House
physician Dr Kevin O'Connor wrote at the time: "The President remains fit
for duty, and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions
or accommodations."
Dr O'Connor
added that Mr Biden walks with a "stiffened gait", largely caused by
wear and tear on his spine and nerve damage in his feet, but that his condition
was unchanged from a previous physical in November 2021.
Mr Biden is
hardly the first commander-in-chief to lose his footing in front of the
cameras.
President Barack
Obama tripped walking up stairs at a 2012 event, while President Gerald Ford
fell down the stairs of Air Force One in 1975.
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