The White House has reportedly been sending President Joe Biden to physical therapy for balance-related exercises in their latest attempt to prevent him from falling in public.
Democrats, including some in the Biden admin, are terrified that the president will have a bad fall — with a nightmare scenario of it happening in the weeks before the November 2024 election.
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) September 26, 2023
Since taking office in January 2021, Biden has had several accidents in public — including an incident that went viral several months after he entered the White House, where he tripped three times while attempting to walk up the stairs to Air Force One.
Biden trips THREE TIMES boarding Air Force One! pic.twitter.com/3YoBpOtTHo
— McCarthyism2.0 (@mccarthyism2024) March 19, 2021
As part of an effort to prevent future incidents, the White House has taken several measures — including switching from dress shoes to tennis shoes, a much safer option to retain traction. According to Axios, Biden’s team hoped that the criticism the president may face for his choice of footwear would be outweighed by the decreased risk of him falling again.
The Biden team has also changed up the president’s routine, having Biden use the shorter stairs up to Air Force One through the belly of the plane to minimize the risk of falling. However, this hasn’t completely alleviated the risk, as Biden was seen almost falling down the short stairs earlier this week.
Different angle of Joe Biden almost falling down the stairs
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) September 26, 2023
Now, Axios has revealed that the 80-year-old president has been attending workouts with physical therapist Drew Contreras to help him with exercises focused on balance — which Biden’s doctor deemed “proprioceptive maintenance maneuvers.”
Biden's doctor has recommended exercises for balance, which he called "proprioceptive maintenance maneuvers."
What the maneuvers entail is unclear.
"I have never heard the term 'proprioceptive maintenance maneuvers,’” the chair of USC’s physical therapy program told me. pic.twitter.com/vSxNaL1evB— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) September 26, 2023
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates attempted to defend Biden’s penchant for falling in a statement to Axios, claiming that the president’s fitness was “proactively and transparently disclosed in a 2021 report from the president’s doctor” and was reported again this year.
Bates then attacked the media for “attempting to sensationalize” Biden’s falls.
Meanwhile, numerous polls have shown that Americans are concerned about the impacts of Biden’s advanced age on his ability to do his job — with a recent Washington Post/ABC News survey showing that three in four Americans believe Biden is too old for a second term.
His cognitive and physical declines have been evident for some time now, especially considering how many times Biden has fallen on camera throughout his presidency. Some of his most memorable falls include the time that he tripped at the Air Force Academy, fell off his bike in Delaware or tripped up the stairs to Air Force One.
.@PatUnleashed drops the highlight reel of Biden's most embarrassing Senior Moments.
From falling down the plane, to tripping in front of the Air Force Academy, to tumbling on his bicycle, to shaking hands with thin air, and more.
Roll the tape🎥 pic.twitter.com/zx39vo4lH9
— BlazeTV (@BlazeTV) September 22, 2023
