President Joe Biden, 80, now uses Air Force One’s shorter, retractable stairs almost exclusively to board the presidential plane, after tripping several times on the plane’s steps and questions arose about his health when he ran for re-election.
Politico reported that on Wednesday that two Biden advisers privately acknowledged that the president’s now-frequent use of the shorter staircase was intentional to ensure easier travel and reduce the likelihood of him spilling again.
Presidents have the option of using a wheeled stairway – with 26 steps to climb – or a shorter 14-step stairway that folds into the plane.
While Biden continues to use the higher flight of stairs to make a grander entrance, he has opted on almost every occasion to take the shorter flight of stairs on arrival at various destinations to board the plane since falling over a sandbag last month.
The president first lost the battle against Air Force One’s rickety outdoor staircase just two months into his term, in March 2021, as he made his way to Atlanta, Georgia.
President Joe Biden now boards Air Force One almost exclusively via the shorter, retractable staircase (left, pictured Thursday), after falling down the stairs three times. He stumbled up the stairs in March 2021 (right)
Another angle of President Joe Biden’s March 2021 fall as he boarded Air Force One via the bigger, bigger stairway at Joint Base Andrews
Leaving Warsaw, Poland in February – after his secret 10-hour train journey there and back to Ukraine – he briefly stumbled up the stairs again.
It happened a third time in early March, when the president momentarily stumbled as he boarded his plane bound for Selma, Alabama.
He has also had other leaks.
Last June in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, there was the time when the president caught his shoe in the toe clamp of his bicycle and fell sideways in front of a crowd of onlookers and reporters.
His biggest stumbling block of late occurred when he tripped over a sandbag at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation ceremony in Colorado last month.
The White House does not want to officially acknowledge that adjustments are being made.
Late last month, Bloomberg’s Justin Sink asked Karine Jean-Pierre if Biden used the shorter flight of stairs during a flight aboard Air Force One.
President Joe Biden fell short as he climbed the stairs to board Air Force One as he left Warsaw after a three-day trip to Kyiv and the Polish capital in February 2023
President Joe Biden again had trouble navigating the steps of Air Force One – he stumbled briefly while boarding the presidential plane as he took off from Selma, Alabama, in March 2023
President Biden also famously fell off his bicycle near his Delaware beach house after struggling to take his feet off the toe clips last June
Sink pointed out that shortly after Biden was sandbagged, he began using the retractable staircase and asked the press secretary if the president was experiencing “mobility issues.”
“When it comes to tackling — you know, he’s had a few incidents where he fell on the stairs when he got up and you guys decided it would be better for him,” Sink mused.
Jean-Pierre responded by saying she “didn’t have any decision making process to go through.”
“I’m sure there’s a protocol that’s used for the — for Air Force One. I just don’t have it,” she said.
“I mean, you guys see the president every day, if it—to talk—if you—when we talk about mobility. The president always says to keep an eye on him,” she continued. “You know, he was a — this was a president — let’s not forget, he went to a war zone in Ukraine and did it in a way that was incredibly effective. The world got to see him there and meet President Zelensky. And I find that extremely important.’
The trip ended when Biden stumbled up the stairs of Air Force One.
Sink also pointed to the White House revelation the day before that the president had started using a CPAP machine to treat his sleep apnea.
“We’ve seen a change in the medical technology he’s using, we’ve seen a change in behavior here. Is there anything you see that points to a medical change of any kind in the president?’ Sink pressed.
Jean-Pierre then pointed to the White House medical report on the president — released in February, before Biden tripped twice aboard Air Force One and prior to the sandbag incident.