US President Joe Biden became a subject of public scrutiny after he tripped over a sandbag and fell on stage at an Air Force Academy graduation last month. Questions have been raised about the President’s health and capability to serve as the leader of the United States for quite some time now.
Even earlier this month, Biden appeared to stumble briefly while going up a flight of stairs to board Air Force One.
Biden using shorter staircase
The US President has been using shorter staircase a lot more since his fall in June. An NBC analysis has shown that his use of a shorter staircase has more than doubled since the incident. The analysis said before Biden tripped, he used the shorter set of stairs to get on and off the aircraft 37% of the time. However, in the past seven weeks he has used them 84% of the time. This translates to 31 out of 37 times he has gotten on and off the presidential aircraft.
Last week, during a trip to Philadelphia to deliver a speech, Biden used the short set of stairs to board the plane parked at Joint Base Andrews, a military facility. When he arrived in Philadelphia, he used the larger staircase to disembark the plane but climbed aboard using the lower steps on his way back. While the White House did not directly answer queries regarding the use of a shorter staircase, an aide said the choice of stairs is dependent on the weather, the airport and whether the press wants a photo on the tarmac with official greeters. NBC noted that there was no rain on the day Biden used the shorter staircase in Philadelphia.
The report said that sources claimed that post Biden’s fall in June, his aides tried to find what went wrong and ways to ensure such an embarrassing and dangerous incident “never happens again,” according to two people familiar with the discussion.
Biden’s fall in June
After he tripped over a sandbag and fell on stage, Biden was helped back up and appeared to be unhurt. Footage of the fall showed Biden pointing out one of two sandbags used to prop up his teleprompter as he was being helped up. Biden was later seen walking back to his seat unassisted.