President Joe Biden's staff and campaign are concerned about his balance, confusion, and stiffened gait as they continue to monitor him to avoid negative headlines about another fall or slip-up.
The latest comes from an Axios report, which noted the Biden team fears a fall or slip-up late in the lead-up to the November 2024 presidential election and failures on the part of his advance team to manage his appearance of frailty.
The watchful eyes on the president are akin to what former President Donald Trump and Biden critics said was a strategy to keep Biden on the campaign trail from his basement during the 2020 pandemic, according to Axios.
The White House responded to the report, calling out the media's desire to "sensationalize" the president's health struggles.
"This isn't new — it was proactively and transparently disclosed in a 2021 report from the president's doctor and again this year," White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Axios when reached for comment.
"This article fits an unfortunate pattern of media attempting to sensationalize something that has long been public, rather than covering the president's very real achievements for hardworking Americans."
Biden's White House physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, has recommended exercises for the president's balance and fitness due to the 80-year-old's stiff gait, which is caused by "a combination of significant spinal arthritis" and "mild post-fracture foot arthritis."
Biden was the oldest president ever to be elected and, at 80, remains the oldest to serve.
His tripping over a sandbag at the Air Force Academy ceremony in June has his handlers concerned about future negative headlines as polls show his age is a No. 1 reason voters — even Democrats — do not want him to run for reelection.
Biden is working with physical therapist Drew Contreras to work on his balance, gait, and fitness, according to Axios.
But the White House presidential health report cited the activities as "proprioceptive maintenance maneuvers," a term lost on physical therapy expert Southern California Professor James Gordon.
"I have never heard the term 'proprioceptive maintenance maneuvers,'" Gordon told Axios. "It is not a clinical term in standard use."
Trump leads Biden by double digits on the issue of physical capability to serve for four years.
Some 77% of Americans say Biden is too old to run for election, according to a recent AP-NORC poll.