Even though he used a simplified, shorter staircase to board Air Force One on Thursday, President Biden once again fell while ascending the stairs.

The 80-year-old president appeared to brace himself for impact when he slipped halfway up the 14-step staircase leading to the presidential plane in Helsinki, Finland, but quickly regained his footing and reached the lower entrance.

As Air Force One prepared to depart Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport for Joint Base Andrews following the president’s meeting with Nordic leaders following a two-day NATO summit in Lithuania, Vice President Biden turned and waved to onlookers.

Biden stumbles a bit as he boards Air Force One — using the smaller stairs — en route to the United States. He took no questions. pic.twitter.com/UxCA75kdQP

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 13, 2023

Since suffering a severe injury at the Air Force Academy in Colorado last month after tripping over a sandbag during a commencement ceremony, the president has been seen using a shorter flight of stairs to board Air Force One.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary for the White House, told reporters last month that she was not aware of “any decision process” on which staircase the president will use to board Air Force One.

Previous presidents reportedly used the shorter stairs to enter and alight the highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft during inclement weather.

At least four times, the president appeared to have fallen while attempting to enter Air Force One, with the most recent instance occurring on Thursday.

In February, Biden was observed falling forward halfway up the stairs leading to the plane departing Warsaw, Poland, demonstrating that he had difficulty maintaining his balance while returning from an international journey.

More on this story via The Republic Brief:

The president was climbing the lengthier flight of steps in that instance. CONTINUE READING…