The Commander In Chief took a little spill at the commencement ceremonies for the U.S. Air Force Academy, but he wasn't injured.
President Joe Biden is human too. In new video footage circulating via social media, the Commander In Chief was seen saluting to the audience, handing out diplomas, and shaking hands with graduates of the U.S. Air Force Academy after giving a commencement speech on Thursday, June 1. He then tumbled over some sandbags, and cameras caught the fumble as secret service agents lurched to help him up. An Air Force officer also appeared to aid him as he fell on his side and attempted to get up. In the video below, you can hear the audience gasp with shock.
Joe Biden takes a fall at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation.
— OutKick (@Outkick) June 1, 2023
The president, who recently announced his re-election campaign, had just handed out the last diploma of the commencement when he fell. The White House also issued a statement saying that President Biden — the oldest president in U.S. history — was not injured by the fall. According to PEOPLE, the White House pool report stated that he “fell down on stage after handing out the last diploma to the Air Force cadets. He appeared to slip and fall going down on his knees,” it explained, adding that he “was helped up by Air Force officials. POTUS appears to be ok and continued to stand until the ceremony ended a few minutes later.”
A follow-up pool report read that Biden “appeared to have tripped on a black sandbag on the stage. When he fell, pointed to the black sandbag suggesting that’s what he tripped on.” And according to the outlet, the White House was directing questions to WH communications director Ben LaBolt’s Twitter statement. “He’s fine,” he tweeted the same day in response to another tweet about the incident. “There was a sandbag on stage while he was shaking hands.”
All in all, it appears to have not affected the celebratory day. “There was strong sun during some of the Air Force Academy grad,” Fox News’s Matt Finn also tweeted about the 80-year-old President‘s appearance at the milestone event. “I saw Biden go down and get back up,” he wrote. “There was strong sun during some of the Air Force Academy grad. He stood for a long time shaking the hand of all 900+ cadets. I was keeping my eye on him, he appeared alert and in good stamina throughout. Then took fall at end, crossing stage.”
