My1sttoday: President Biden ‘absolutely fine’ after stumble on air force one steps on Friday, but White House officials say he is “doing fine.”
Biden stumbled while boarding the presidential aircraft at Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington.
White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that the accident happened under very windy conditions and that she nearly tripped coming up the steps herself.
“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.
“It was very windy,” she said. “I almost fell coming up the steps myself. He is absolutely fine.”
Biden, who is 78, wore a walking boot for several weeks during the transition after he was diagnosed with a fracture in his foot. Biden said he suffered the injury after slipping on a bathroom mat when one of his dogs approached him.
“Both small fractures of his foot are completely healed,” Dr. O’Connor said in a statement in February after the president received follow-up X-rays. “These films were obtained while standing, so we could further assess that his ligamentous stability remains fully intact and strong. This injury has healed as expected.”
Ms. Jean-Pierre did not answer when reporters aboard Air Force One asked her if Mr. Biden’s foot had caused the stumble, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment on Friday.
In Atlanta, President Biden exited the plane without an issue.