If you worked for an elderly politician and they had several incidents of falling and being ridiculed, would you want to take steps to try to avoid such incidents?
That seems to be a reasonable response. But it is not what we heard from the White House on Tuesday.
During a press briefing, Newsmax’s James Rosen recounted several times when President Joe Biden fell.
One specific example Rosen highlighted came from the president’s trip to Japan when he almost fell down stone steps. He pointed out there were handrails the president could have used to avoid an incident but he did not.
Rosen asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, “My question to you is whether this whole series of incidents has led the White House chief of staff to direct some kind of review of the advance procedures that are employed on behalf of the nation’s oldest president.”
“Let me say, you’ve paid a lot of attention to that particular situation,” Jean-Pierre responded.
She noted she was with the president on the trip but did not witness that incident.
And then her response got kind of weird. Instead of answering the question, Jean-Pierre for some reason launched into a roughly two-minute monologue about the president’s accomplishments since he took office and his 2020 election victory.
Watch the video below:
When Rosen tried to press for an answer, Jean-Pierre insisted Americans care more about the president’s accomplishments than the subject of his question.
“I’m just saying that is something that Americans want, isn’t that not true? That they have a leader that’s going to deliver for them,” the press secretary said.
She continued, “I know what your question is. You’re asking me if the chief of staff has asked to change anything from here. And here’s the thing: we are not.”
“Things happen. Other presidents have had similar situations as you know… And so look, things happen. This is a president that delivers and will continue [to] deliver for the American people,” she added.
Well, that was quite the answer: “Things happen.” It is true other presidents have had examples of falling.
But Biden is the oldest president in U.S. history. He would be 82 at the beginning of a second term and 86 by the end of the term. And while it is not necessarily the rule, there is a greater risk that someone who falls in their 80s will suffer more damage than someone in their 50s or 60s. And they probably would not recover as quickly from a damaging fall either.
It is crazy to think the White House’s response to Biden tripping and repeatedly falling is not to try to prevent that from happening. But instead, the response is, “Things happen.”