President Joe Biden, 81, implemented a new strategy of walking to and from Marine One with multiple aides to “draw less attention” to his physical ailments, Axios’ Hans Nichols and Alex Thompson reported Friday.
Biden has neuropathy in his feet and a stiffened gait, White House physician Kevin O’Connor found after the president’s annual physical in February.
The health challenges might explain why he struggles to remain upright. Biden has tripped, tumbled, and stumbled at least five times during his presidency.
U.S. President Joe Biden falls during the graduation ceremony at the United States Air Force Academy, just north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, on June 1, 2023 (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty, Andrew Harnik/AP).
Social media accounts constantly share videos of Biden walking awkwardly. Those videos forced him to introduce a new routine, which began in mid-April, Axios reported:
- Senior aides such as deputy chiefs of staff Bruce Reed and Annie Tomasini and close adviser Mike Donilon are among those who’ve walked with the president across the lawn to and from the helicopter.
- Since the change, some advisers think the images of Biden’s walks to and from the helicopter are better, and they expect him to continue to have aides join him. […]
- Starting April 16, Biden was joined by staff or lawmakers nine out of 10 times he walked to and from Marine One.
It is not the first strategy Biden implemented to change the image of his age. He previously began boarding Air Force One from the shorter steps at the rear of the aircraft, instead of the taller staircase at the front.
President Joe Biden walks up the steps of Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Thursday, July 20, 2023 (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta).
Biden also does not wear typical dress shoes with his suits. He wears a specially crafted sports shoe to help him walk, a typical wardrobe change for the elderly.
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.