President Joe Biden looked confused, according to the New York Post, and had to be guided by Japan's leader Fumio Kishida on Friday, before tripping and nearly falling down some stairs.
The newspaper said Biden, 80, had also appeared to be confused when his wife, Jill, took him by the hand to meet the Japanese leader ahead of the G-7 summit.
Biden shook Kishida's hand and then turned the prime minister's wife, the Post said. He "bizarrely" bent over with clenched fists, as if in a boxer's pose. He then shook her hand.
Kishida then led the U.S. delegation to spots for photos. He was seen jumping in to help Biden to his spot.
"We'll figure it out," the first lady joked.
Biden's age — and gaffes — have been long highlighted as he runs again for the White House in 2024, the Post noted.
He would be 86 at the end of a full second term and has tripped numerous times before. In one instance in March, 2021, a video showed Biden stumbling twice halfway up the stairs of Air Force One before tripping and dropping to one knee.
The president stood and appeared to dust off his knee before reaching the top of the stairs. He then gave a quick salute, and entered the plane.
As Biden, the oldest president in U.S. history, embarks on his reelection campaign, he is increasingly musing aloud about his advanced age, cracking self-deprecating jokes and framing his decades in public life as a plus, hoping to convince voters his age is an asset rather than a vulnerability, The Associated Press reported.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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