President Joe Biden stumbled on the steps of Air Force One while departing Alabama on Sunday (Picture: WSFA)
President Joe Biden stumbled on the steps of his Air Force One plane a second time in less than two weeks.
Biden almost fell while walking up the presidential aircraft on Sunday to depart Alabama.
A video aired by WSFA 12 News shows Biden getting off Marine One and walking on the tarmac to Air Force One. He begins climbing the stairs and around the ninth step, falls forward and catches himself. Biden continues up the flight of stairs to the top and waves and makes a salute before entering the plane.
One of two journalists providing commentary over the footage said Biden’s visit to Alabama ‘was a quick trip’ but ‘very impactful’.
Biden’s stumble came 11 days after he tripped on the Air Force One steps while leaving Warsaw, Poland, after a whirlwind eastern Europe trip that included a stop in Kyiv around the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Biden in that instance also caught himself before falling completely and made his way up to the top and into the plane.
It is the third time that Biden has wobbled on the Air Force One stairs. The first time happened two months into his presidency in March 2021, at Joint Base Andrews.
Biden also fell off his bike in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he has a home, in June 2022.
President Joe Biden (center) boards Air Force One before departing Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama (Picture: Getty Images)
On Sunday, Biden spent around four hours in Alabama. He stopped briefly in Montgomery and then went directly to Selma, which was devastated by a tornado on January 12. Biden put on aviator sunglasses as he walked from Marine One to Air Force One and held a rolled up newspaper in his left hand as he walked up the plane stairs.
Biden’s age, 80, is under scrutiny as he appears to gear up to announce his 2024 bid for reelection. Biden was the oldest US president to be inaugurated at the age of 78. First Lady Jill Biden said late last month said there was ‘pretty much’ nothing left for him to do but decide on a time and place to announce his campaign.
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President Joe Biden stumbled on the Air Force One steps while departing Alabama less than two weeks after similarly tripping in Poland.