Trump admits to taking it 'nice and slow' on Air Force One stairs after watching Biden's repeated falls
Donald Trump admitted on Monday that he climbed and descended the Air Force One's stairs 'nice and slow' after watching Joe Biden's repeated falls.
The President hopped on the phone with Dan Bongino for the first episode of Bongino's relaunched podcast, after he departed from his role as deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation last month.
Trump argued that the country was 'being laughed at' thanks to Biden's stumbles.
'We see a guy falling up the stairs, going into an airplane,' Trump said.
The 79-year-old President said that imagery has influenced his own behavior when boarding the presidential aircraft.
'I've gotta be very careful going on,' Trump said, adding that he takes the steps 'nice and slow.'
'I'm not looking to set any records. You don't want to go down,' he continued. 'Could happen, could happen, but it can't happen three times in one shot.'
Just under two months into his term, on March 19, 2021, when Biden was en route to Atlanta, Georgia, the then-78-year-old tripped and fell three times up the red carpeted larger staircase presidents can take to board Air Force One.
President Donald Trump gives the press a fist bump after boarding Air Force One last week. On Monday, he told podcaster Dan Bongino that he takes the steps 'nice and slow' after mocking President Joe Biden's repeated stumbles
Former President Joe Biden is seen clinging to the railing of the staircase he used to board Air Force One on March 19, 2021 when he was traveling to Atlanta, Georgia. He tripped three times on the Air Force One stairs that day
The Democrat also fell over a sandbag on stage when delivering a commencement address and tumbled sideways off his bike after getting his foot stuck in a toe-clip.
Biden also tripped several other times on Air Force One's stairs, so much so that by the end of his term, his staffers had him boarding the Boeing 747 using the lower, internal staircase.
The decision was made in June 2023, so that Biden's physical stamina wasn't questioned as he decided to launch a reelection bid - one that he eventually had to abandon due to those old-age concerns.
Trump was the oldest person ever to be sworn-in as president, so he's had to contend with similar questions about his fitness.
The White House has had to explain bruising on the President's hands and enlarged ankles, which White House doctors said was caused by chronic venous insufficiency.
Trump hasn't taken any public spills - though he was mocked in 2020 for awkwardly tip-toeing down a ramp - though he floated to Bongino that there's always potential for that to occur.
'I don't think you'll ever see anything like that, but it could happen,' Trump said. 'So I have to be a little bit open, I have to say it could happen, but you ever watch me, I come down nice and slow. I'm not looking to set in records,' he reiterated, still focused on Air Force One's stairs.
Without saying his name, Trump then complimented former President Barack Obama for his style of stair-walking.
President Donald Trump said he respected the way former President Barack Obama, a political rival, navigated the Air Force One stairs. 'He's bopping down, you know, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop. And I kept waiting for him to fall and he didn't,' Trump said Monday
President Donald Trump told podcaster Dan Bongino that he walks up Air Force One's stairs cautiously in order to not follow in President Joe Biden's footsteps and stumble while boarding the plane
'It's probably the only thing I respected,' Trump said. 'And yet it didn't look elegant at all.'
'He bopped down the stairs. He would be in the middle. I thought it looked so terrible, you know? This is the president of the United States,' the president continued. 'He's bopping down, you know, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop. And I kept waiting for him to fall and he didn't.'
Obama was 55 years old when he left office in 2017.
'I was impressed with his ability to go down the stairs like that. I mean, I wouldn't want to do it. You know, those stairs are very slippery, and I always used to say he's an accident waiting to happen, and to the best of my knowledge, it didn't happen, so I give him credit,' Trump said.
'But it happened many fold with Biden,' he noted. 'Aye yi yi, what a president.'
