White House Changes How Biden Walks to and from Marine One in Attempt to Shield Him from Bad Optics: Report
President Joe Biden now will have assistance as he goes to and from Marine One at the White House, as those closest to him try to shield his gait from the media, a new report says.
The 81-year-old has made headlines throughout his presidency for his struggles with fine motor skills.
In addition to several falls while boarding Air Force One and issues boarding Marine One, questions about his gait and appearance in recent crossings of the South Lawn have been raised.
Biden sometimes appears unsteady, wobbly, aimless and generally does not pick his feet up as high as he once did when walking.
Axios reported Friday that, in general, Biden no longer will walk to and from Marine One alone at the White House but will have people alongside him to shield him from cameras.
Reporting for the outlet, Hans Nichols and Alex Thompson wrote:
“With aides walking between Biden and journalists’ camera position outside the White House, the visual effect is to draw less attention to the 81-year-old’s halting and stiff gait.
“Some Biden advisers have told Axios they’re concerned that videos of Biden walking and shuffling alone — especially across the grass — have highlighted his age.”
According to Axios, Biden’s team hopes to change the narrative that he is too old to serve another term in the White House.
As far as noticeable changes to Biden’s gait, his doctors have attributed them to “spinal arthritis” as well as “mild sensory peripheral neuropathy of the feet.”
Biden now often wears special shoes intended to give him more support and stability.
Axios looked at the president’s solo walks to and from Marine One in recent weeks and noticed the new travel policy appears to be in place.
Per the outlet, Biden boarded the helicopter five times in March either alone or with a family member, but of the 10 times he has boarded the chopper since April 16, he has been accompanied by lawmakers or staff for nine of them.
Biden was accompanied by six people on Tuesday as he left the White House en route to Florida.
Last summer, Biden began to board Air Force One from a lower staircase than the one he and his predecessors usually had climbed when boarding the aircraft.
The change was made after some highly publicized issues navigating the taller staircase.
As The Washington Times noted, the shift to the lower staircase did not help the president during one trip in February, when he nearly lost his footing while navigating it.
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