President Biden has revealed he got "sandbagged" after he tripped and fell during a speech - prompting Donald Trump to claim he needs to be more "careful".
The 80-year-old was onstage greeting graduates at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, US, when he turned to jog back towards his seat and fell.
He was helped up by an Air Force officer as well as two members of his US Secret Service detail.
Onlookers, including some members of the official delegation onstage, watched in concern before Mr Biden, who at age 80 is the oldest president in US history, returned to his seat to view the end of the ceremony.
“I got sandbagged,” the president told reporters with a smile when he arrived back at the White House on Thursday evening before pretending to jog into the residence.
Two small black sandbags had been onstage supporting the teleprompter used by Mr Biden and other speakers at the graduation.
“He’s fine,” White House communications director Ben LaBolt tweeted after the incident. “There was a sandbag on stage while he was shaking hands."
Donald Trump, 76, was campaigning in Iowa when he heard about Mr Biden’s stumble and alluded to his own episode.
“He actually fell down? Well I hope he wasn’t hurt,” Mr Trump said after an audience member told him about what had happened to Mr Biden. “The whole thing is crazy. You gotta be careful about that ... ’cause you don’t want that, even if you have to tiptoe down a ramp.”
The audience laughed as Mr Trump recounted slowly inching his way down what he said had been a slippery ramp at the U.S. Military Academy graduation.
“If he fell, it’s too bad,” the former president said. “We gotta just get this thing back on track. That’s a bad place to fall when you’re making, I think it was the Air Force Academy, right? That’s not inspiring.”
Meanwhile, GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis used the opportunity to take a political shot at Biden while at a campaign event in New Hampshire.
“We hope and wish Joe Biden a swift recovery from any injuries he may have sustained,” he said, “but we also wish the United States of America a swift recovery from the injuries it has sustained because of Joe Biden and his policies.”
The president has stumbled before going up the stairs and onto Air Force One and he once got caught up in his bike pedals while stopping to talk to reporters near his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
Mr Biden has been dogged by questions about his age and his fitness to serve, and his missteps have become fodder for political rivals as he campaigns for a second term in 2024.
