The White House attributed the incident to strong winds and a “misstep”.
President Joe Biden’s trip to Georgia on Friday got off to a rough start when he stumbled several times up the stairs of Air Force One at Andrews Joint Base.
In three seconds, the 78-year-old president fell three times.
Each time, he put his left hand down to hold on while holding the handrail with his right hand.
He finally fell on his left knee in the middle of the stairs.
As he stood up, Biden paused and seemed to adjust the bottom of his trouser leg before continuing to run lightly and up the rest of the steps, turning to greet before entering the cabin.
The White House’s chief deputy press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, told reporters aboard Air Force One that the president was “very well” and attributed the gusts to the incident.
“There is a lot of wind outside, a lot of wind. I almost fell up the stairs. He is 100% fine,” she said.
White House communications director Kate Bedingfield also tweeted that Biden did not require any attention from the medical staff on board.
“Nothing more than a misstep on the stairs,” she said.
Jean-Pierre said Biden is continuing to prepare for his trip to Atlanta, where he is expected to visit the Centers for Disease Control and meet with leaders of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.
Biden recently recovered from a foot injury he suffered while playing with his dog Major in November. He suffered fractures to his right foot and wore a boot for a brief period, but was cleared by his doctor on February 6.