 "Biden falls onstage at graduation ceremony; White House says he's 'fine'")
US President Joe Biden fell onstage at the Air Force Academy's graduation ceremony and is "fine," said a White House aide on Thursday.
After shaking hands with over 900 graduates, Biden turned to move back to his seat and started to motion as if he were going to jog. He then appeared to trip and fell down on the stage.
Biden, 80, was assisted by two Secret Service agents and an Air Force official, before turning around and pointing to something onstage that he may have tripped over.
Ben LaBolt, White House communications director, retweeted a reporter who posted about the incident and said Biden was OK.
“He’s fine. There was a sandbag on stage while he was shaking hands,” LaBolt said.
More From This Section
Biden later joked about the incident, yelling “I got sandbagged!” to reporters as he arrived back at the White House that evening.
Last year, while on a weekend trip to his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Biden fell off his bike.
Biden's re-election bid has been dogged by questions about his fitness to serve another four-year term.
A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 33 per cent of adults in the US believe Joe Biden is in good enough physical shape to serve effectively as president, while 64 per cent believe the same of former President Donald Trump, who is 76 and also running for a second term in the White House.
Biden's physician said in February that he remains "fit" to conduct his duties as president.
“President Biden remains a healthy, vigorous 80-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency,” the White House physician, Dr Kevin O’Connor, said in a five-page memo.