WASHINGTON − President Joe Biden took a dramatic spill Thursday while passing out diplomas after giving the commencement address at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Gasps from the crowd followed Biden’s fall, which came as he handed out the last diploma, forcing the president to come down on his knees.
Biden, who was helped to his feet by Air Force officials and Secret Service personnel, appeared to trip on a black sandbag that was on the stage.
Biden, 80, the oldest president in U.S. history, seemed to be OK and continued to stand as the ceremony concluded a few minutes later.
“He’s fine,” Ben LaBolt, White House communications director, said in a tweet. “There was a sandbag on stage while he was shaking hands.”
It’s not the first time Biden has tumbled in the public spotlight.
Last summer, Biden fell when he tried to get off his bike at the end of a rid at Cape Henlopen State Park near his beach home in Delaware, but said he wasn’t hurt. He has also tripped but collected himself while speeding up the stairs to board Air Force One.
The latest fall likely hands Republicans − who have repeatedly questioned Biden’s fitness to be president − new material for future ads targeting Biden in the 2024 presidential election after they’ve already made Biden’s bicycle spill a go-to clip.
Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: President Biden falls handing out diplomas at Air Force Academy
