Biden Trips Up Stairs Of Air Force One, Again, Adding To Growing List Of Incidents Raising Concerns About His Age

Topline

President Joe Biden stumbled as he made his way up the stairs of Air Force One Friday—marking the latest incident to raise questions about the 80-year-old president’s physical and mental faculties as his extensive record of factual errors, jumbled words and cringe-worthy comments have increasingly been used by critics to argue he’s too old to serve another term.

US President Joe Biden boards Air Force One as he departs from the Vilnius International Airport in … [+] Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 12, 2023, after the end of NATO Summit. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

July 14, Tripping On The Steps of Air Force One: Biden briefly lost his footing while walking up a set of stairs to board the presidential plane Friday in Finland, then quickly recovered before waving to the crowd below from the entrance of the plane, following a two-day NATO meeting in Lithuania.

June 29, Walking Off MSNBC Set: Biden awkwardly rose from his chair and walked off the set of a live MSNBC interview with Nicole Wallace before she had the chance to close the segment.

June 27, Confusing Iraq and Ukraine: The president mixed up the countries in interviews twice in a matter of 24 hours: Speaking about NATO’s support for Ukraine, he referred to Russia’s attacks as an “onslaught on Iraq” at a fundraiser in Maryland, and a day later told reporters Putin is “clearly losing the war in Iraq”—not the first time the president has confused the two wars: in November, he blamed inflation on “a war in Iraq . . .excuse me, the war in Ukraine” he said during a speech in South Florida.

June 27, Calling Modi the leader of China: At the same June fundraiser in Maryland, Biden called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the leader “of a little country that’s now the largest in the world, China,” before quickly correcting himself: “excuse me . . . India.”

June 16, Referencing royalty: Biden ended remarks in Connecticut about gun control with the phrase “God save the queen, man,” baffling his own White House deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton, who told reporters in an email she was unsure what the comment meant and that Biden was speaking to someone in the crowd.

June 8, Building an ocean railroad: The U.S. is planning “a railroad from the Pacific Ocean — from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Indian Ocean,” Biden said during a White House press conference with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, an apparent reference to a proposal to build a railroad in Sub-Saharan Africa that stretches to the Indian Ocean.

June 8, Botching Sunak’s title: Earlier during his visit with Sunak, Biden called him “president,” then corrected the error, joking, “I just promoted you.”

May 26, Misstating the number of granddaughters he has: Biden said he has four granddaughters, when really he has five, while hosting the NCAA championship-winning Louisiana State University women’s basketball team at the White House—drawing widespread criticism from columnists and pundits that the Biden family has failed to acknowledge his son Hunter Biden’s estranged 4-year-old daughter.

May 21, Calling the South Korean president the wrong name: Biden said during remarks at the G7 conference in Japan he has “spoken at length with President Loon of South Korea,” referring to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

May 18, Saying his son died in Iraq: Biden said his family lost his son Beau Biden, a former U.S. Army major who died of brain cancer in 2015, “in Iraq” during a trip to Japan—an error he also made in November during the same speech where he confused the wars in Iraq and Ukraine, telling the crowd, “I’m thinking about Iraq because that’s where my son died,” though later in the remarks he correctly stated the cause of his son’s death (Biden has said he believes toxic burn pits Beau Biden was exposed to while deployed in Iraq may have caused his cancer).

May 5, Promising a “major press conference”: While closing out a briefing with reporters on the economy on May 5, Biden foreshadowed a “major press conference” later that afternoon, which a spokesperson later clarified was intended as a reference to a pre-taped interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle.

April 12, Mislabeling New Zealand’s rugby team: Biden, during a visit to Ireland in April, called New Zealand’s All Blacks rugby team the “Black and Tans,” which is the name of British recruits to the Irish military in the 1920s: “he beat the hell out of the Black and Tans,” Biden said, referring to his distant cousin who played on the Irish rugby team that beat new Zealand in 2016.

Tangent

Biden tripping on stairs and stages becomes instant fodder for conservative voices and media outlets seeking to capitalize on concerns about his age. He fell on stage at an Air Force graduation ceremony in June, then was quickly helped to his feet, in a moment that instantly went viral. A White House spokesperson blamed the spill on a sandbag on the stage and said he was fine. Friday’s incident is one of several where he’s lost his footing while boarding the steps of Air Force One.

Big Number

67%. That’s the percentage of voters in an April CNN/SSRS survey who said Biden does not have the stamina and sharpness to serve effectively as president. Only one-third of all voters in the same survey said he deserves to be re-elected and just 44% of Democrats say he should be the party’s 2024 presidential nominee.

Key Background

Biden has a long history of stumbling over his own words, using old-timey phrases, making cringe-worthy, tone deaf comments about sensitive issues, and at times, losing his temper with reporters. In June, he chided a New York Post reporter for asking a “dumb question” about bribery allegations against him, and in January last year, he was caught on a hot mike calling Fox News reporter Pete Doocy a “stupid son of a b—-h.” While campaigning against former President Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, Biden’s attempt at complimenting his opponent came off like a racial trope: “I mean, you’ve got the first sort of mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean . . . that’s a storybook, man,” he said. Obama, who was reportedly skeptical of Biden’s 2020 bid before eventually endorsing him, promotes a public image of personal closeness with Biden, but reportedly acknowledges his weaknesses behind the scenes. “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to f—k things up,” Obama said as Biden prepared to launch his 2020 campaign, a Democratic source told Politico in 2020.

Chief Critic

GOP presidential candidate and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has gone as far to suggest Biden won’t live until the end of his second term, when he’d be 86, fueling concerns that Vice President Kamala Harris, who has a historically low approval rating, would be installed in his place. “If you vote for Joe Biden you really are counting on a President Harris, because the idea that he would make it until 86 years old is not something that I think is likely,” Haley told Fox News in April.

Contra

While Biden’s public speaking troubles appear to have increased with his age, public interest in the issue, along with the spotlight of the presidency, has led to more emphasis on his every fumble. Biden has publicly recognized his propensity for misspeaking, referring to himself as a “gaffe machine,” and has acknowledged voters’ concerns about his age. “I respect [voters] taking a hard look at it. I take a hard look at it as well,” Biden said a day after announcing his re-election campaign on April 25. He has also spoken openly about his struggles with managing a lifelong stutter, an issue that plagued his debate performances in his 2020 presidential campaign. At the same time, Biden’s limited dealings with reporters—he’s held fewer press conferences than any other president since Ronald Reagan—has drawn speculation that he’s purposely avoiding gaffe-susceptible scenarios. But Biden and his allies have dismissed the criticism, calling press conferences outdated while pointing to his record to dispute claims about his ability. “Watch me,” he often says.

Crucial Quote

Biden’s top Republican competitor in the 2024 presidential race, former President Donald Trump—77, and perhaps aware the same criticism can be aimed at him—has dismissed concerns about the president’s age, noting that he’s hardly the only federal lawmaker in his 80s. “Bernie’s older than Biden. Whether you like him or not, he’s 100% sharp,” Trump told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in April, referring to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is 81. Downplaying any concerns about his own age, while criticizing Biden, Trump said last year, “There are many people in their 80s, and even 90s, that are as good and sharp as ever. Biden is not one of them, but it has little to do with his age. In actuality, life begins at 80!”