While speaking at an Air Force Academy commencement ceremony in Colorado on Thursday, President Biden tripped over a sandbag left on the stage and fell to the ground.
According to White House communications director Ben LaBolt — who issued a statement via Twitter shortly after the fall — Biden is fine, having suffered no immediate injury as a result of the embarrassing incident.
He's fine. There was a sandbag on stage while he was shaking hands. https://t.co/jP4sJiirHh
— Ben LaBolt (@WHCommsDir) June 1, 2023
Prior to the fall, Biden handed out diplomas to the graduates and delivered a speech in which he stressed the importance of their service to America.
"It is no exaggeration to say that I trust my life to academy graduates," he said at the top of his address.
Noticeably fumbling his words a bit, as he'd fumble his footsteps later on, Biden pushed through in delivering encouragement to the newbies around him.
"No matter what changes or challenges come, your character, your moral clarity, your capabilities must never waiver," the president continued. ". . .The Nation needs you. Genuinely needs you. The world stands at an inflection point . . . the decisions we make today are gonna determine what the world looks like decades from now. No graduating class gets to choose the world into which they graduate. Every class enters the history of a Nation up to the point that has been written by others. But few classes, once every several generations, enters at a point in our history where they actually have a chance to change the trajectory of the country."
Watch the moment of Biden's fall here:
🚨 BREAKING: Joe Biden falls at the Air Force Graduation
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 1, 2023
pic.twitter.com/5r2HQwjAdN
