REHOBOTH BEACH – United States President Joe Biden took a tumble as he was riding his bicycle near his beach home in the state of Delaware yesterday morning, but was unhurt.
A video from a White House pool report showed the 79-year-old president immediately getting up after his fall. He then says: “I’m good.”
He was biking with First Lady Jill Biden in a state park near their beach home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware and had stopped to talk to onlookers when he fell.
The president told a small crowd of well-wishers and reporters that he had lost his balance as he tried to pull a foot out of a bike clip.
The result: “a mad scramble of Secret Service and press”, a White House pool report said, adding there were no visible scrapes or bruises from the fall.
“No medical attention is needed,” a White House official said.
“The president looks forward to spending the rest of the day with his family.”
Videos posted to social media later in the afternoon showed the president seeking to prove his agility.
Reporters and onlookers called out as Biden left a church service, asking if he had suffered any injuries from his spill.
Biden didn’t answer but took three quick hops and raised his fists in a demonstration of strength.
As the oldest US president, Biden’s health is the subject of constant attention, particularly as speculation rises on whether he will seek a second term in 2024.
In November 2020, shortly after his election but before taking office, Biden broke a foot while playing with his pet German shepherds.
But a year later, in November last year, his doctor gave Biden a clean bill of health, describing him as “healthy” and “vigorous”.
Taking a few questions from reporters yesterday, Biden said he is “in the process of making up my mind” about easing some Trump-era tariffs on Chinese goods in order to soften inflationary pressures.
He said he would be speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping soon.
Asked if he was satisfied with progress on gun legislation – after mass shootings in Texas and New York brought new demands for action – Biden said only that he is happy with action by his home state of Delaware, which passed a ban on assault-style weapons. – AFP, June 19, 2022
