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President Joe Biden after the fall in Colorado Springs
Photo: Andrew Harnik / dpa
US President Joe Biden fell on a stage during a public appearance in the state of Colorado. The 80-year-old spoke to graduates of a military academy in Colorado Springs and attended the graduation ceremony there. When he wanted to leave the stage at the end, he stumbled and fell to the floor. Security forces helped him up, as a video shows.
A White House employee said on Twitter that the president was doing well and suggested that Biden had stumbled over a sandbag on stage.
Biden had moved into the White House in 2021 as the oldest president of all time. At the end of April, the Democrat announced that he wanted to run for a second term in next year's presidential election. In the election in a year and a half, Biden will be 81 years old, at the end of a possible second term he would be 86.
Biden's age and his suitability as a renewed presidential candidate have long been the subject of debate, including in his own party. Competitors from the ranks of the Republicans regularly use blunders and small missteps of the president to question his mental and physical fitness.
kfr/dpa