If it’s one thing Twitter will do, it’s not take anything seriously. Today (June 1), President Joe Biden took a nasty tumble on stage at an Air Force Academy graduation ceremony in Colorado. And now, social media is rolling (and trolling!) with jokes.
Just after wishing the proud graduates well, Biden was briefly down for the count. The 80-year-old was quickly helped up and walked off the misstep. White House communications director Ben LaBolt later tweeted, “He’s fine. There was a sandbag on stage while he was shaking hands.” He wasn’t the only one discussing the topic online. “The faces in the background. They are trying so hard not to laugh,” one person said of attendees seen in the widely circulated clip.
Others put themselves in his shoes and joked about their own misfortunes. “Me falling for my ex for the 10th time,” one person tweeted. Another said, “I can trip and fall standing still. It’s no big deal. Thankful he wasn’t hurt.” While the wisecracks raged on, a considerable amount of people came to the commander-in-chief’s defense. “To the ignorant people who are calling for President Joe Biden to be removed from office via the 25th Amendment because he tripped, here is a reminder that Franklin D. Roosevelt was confined to a wheelchair for his presidency. Old people fall. Young people fall. Smart people fall. Good leaders fall. I fell last week playing with my son. We should be cheering over the fact that he got up uninjured, not using it to fuel more hatred and division,” a user shared.
One commenter was unusually positive in their reaction. Former President Donald Trump is currently campaigning for the 2024 presidential race, and, while speaking at a rally, was informed by a reporter of the incident. “He actually fell down? Well, I hope he wasn’t hurt,” the Republican said. “You gotta be careful about that ‘cause you don’t want that,” Trump added. “I’m surprisingly impressed with this response. I was honestly a little nervous,” a tweet read.
See what others are saying below.