OPINION | This article contains the author's opinion.
It’s becoming increasingly obvious to Americans that President Joe Biden is a frail man.
In the span of eight days, Biden tripped while attempting to board Air Force One in Lithuania on July 12th. He became disoriented and lost on stage in Philadelphia on July 20th, and required directions to leave the stage.
Reporters noticed that 80-year-old Biden has started using the smaller 14-step staircase to board Air Force One by entering through the belly of the plane. This started after Biden took a hard fall at the graduation ceremony of the Air Force Academy in Colorado.
However, the new strategy isn’t preventing missteps. Biden appears to brace himself for impact on the highly modified 747-200B jetliner before recovering his balance. Forbes political commentator Jack Buckby says Biden seems “like a frail senior citizen.”
This problem isn’t anything new for Biden. The president has fallen or tripped at least 8 times since winning the 2020 election. Seven instances happened in public and one instance occurred at his home after a shower.
In February 2021, Biden tripped while boarding Air Force One as he prepared to depart for a trip to Europe. He stumbled again just one month later in March 2021 while walking up the stairs of Air Force One to depart for a trip to South Carolina.
Biden tripped in June 2021 while walking down the stairs of Air Force One to depart for a trip to Europe. In August 2021, Biden tripped while walking up the stairs of Air Force One as he prepared to depart for a trip to New York City.
He tripped again in October 2021 (walking down the steps) and again in February 2022 (walking up Air Force One steps).
some top Democrats have privately been saying for months that they’re nervous about Biden tripping again on the trail. Today he did—>
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) June 1, 2023
Staircases aren’t Biden’s fiercest opponent as he appears to face even greater struggles in the mental arena. A poll from NBC found that the majority of Americans (68%) believe Biden does not have the mental and physical health to serve as president.
The poll also found that a staggering 43 percent of Democrats believe Biden is not mentally and physically healthy to serve as president. This concern among Democrats has doubled since 2020. Prior to 2020, just one in five Democrats were concerned about Biden’s mental acuity.
NBC found that 89% of Republicans agree that Biden does not have the cognitive or physicial abilities to be president.
Biden will be 82 years old in 2024 and claims he will seek re-election as the nominee of the Democratic Party. Given Biden’s long history of physical and mental struggles, it remains unclear whether the Democrat Party will rally behind him and win the White House.