“It’s pretty windy outside. It’s very windy. I almost fell coming up the steps myself,” White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard the presidential plane.
Jean-Pierre added that the president is doing “just great” after tripping while going up the plane’s stairs. “All I know is, all I can tell you is, he’s doing fine. He’s doing great,” she said.
While climbing the stairs to board the aircraft, Biden drew attention after stumbling several times. After he made it to the top, the president delivered a crisp salute at the door before entering the aircraft.
Biden was boarding the plane at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and is headed to Atlanta, where he is scheduled to meet with community leaders about Tuesday’s shooting spree that left eight people dead at three spas. He will also visit the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to discuss the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the National Weather Service, Joint Base Andrews is experiencing winds of more than 20 miles per hour, with gusts up to 25 mph, but that did not prevent the president’s plane from taking off.
“I know folks have seen that President Biden slipped on his way up the stairs to AF1, but I’m happy to report that he is just fine and did not even require any attention from the medical team who travels with him. Nothing more than a misstep on the stairs,” White House communications director Kate Bedingfield tweeted shortly afterward.
This past November, just after his 78th birthday, Biden fractured his foot while playing with his German shepherd Major.
“I got out of the shower. I got a dog, and anybody who’s been around my house knows…little pup dropped a ball in front of me. And for me to grab the ball,” the president told reporters at the time.
“I’m walking through this little alleyway to get to the bedroom. And I grabbed the ball like this and he ran. And I’m joking, running after him and grab his tail. And what happened was that he slid on a throw rug. And I tripped on the rug he slid on. That’s what happened. Oh man, not a very exciting story,” Biden said.
During the 2020 campaign, Biden’s team released a summary of his medical history, which showed he was healthy.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who has been Biden’s primary care doctor since 2009, wrote at the time that Biden is “a healthy, vigorous” man “who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency.”
