The 80-year-old president was in Colorado to address about 900 newly graduated air cadets, and it was during the awarding of diplomas on stage that Biden tripped and fell to the ground.
Pictures from the incident show how he is helped to get up within seconds. The White House says the president is fine, and that he tripped over a sandbag on stage, according to the Reuters news agency.
It is not the first time Joe Biden has fallen at an official appearance, which has led to discussions about his health.
Biden’s old age on the agenda again
Since Biden announced that he is running for re-election, the debate about his advanced age has flared up again. 68 percent of Americans think he is too old to run for office in 2024, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll.
SVT’s US correspondent Fouad Youcefi believes that many Democrats are worried that Biden will not be able to cope with another election campaign and another four years in power. However, he does not believe that it will affect the outcome of the presidential election next year:
– We have spoken to many who do not believe he will make it, but who still want to vote for the Democrats because they are worried about what could happen on the other side. So even if Joe Biden falls or says the wrong thing, I don’t think it will affect so many voters in such a way that they switch sides.
The president’s promise: Sweden will become a member of NATO
During the visit to the flight academy in Colorado, the president also gave a speech in which he addressed Sweden’s NATO application. He said that in a conversation with Erdogan, where the Turkish president repeated that he wants to buy F-16 planes, he countered that Ankara must drop its veto against Sweden becoming a member of NATO.
– It will happen. I promise, Biden said.