President Joe Biden drew laughs at a speech he gave near an auto plant in Belvedere, Illinois about the successfully negotiated United Auto Workers (UAW) union’s new contract with automakers, which the White House had supported.
Biden walked on a picket line with UAW workers in September in support of their strike for a “significant raise … and other benefits.”
“The wealthy and big corporations have done just fine, but the rest of us were cut out that deal,” Biden said in the speech. “Look, I see it differently. I don’t look at the economy through the eyes of Wall Street and Park Avenue. I look it through the eyes of the people I grew up with in Scranton, in Pennsylvania, in Claremont, Delaware. My guess is that’s how Shawn looks at the two people he grew up with in Kokomo.”
Biden was referencing Shawn Fain, the president of UAW who led the negotiations that ended the strike and got the contract Biden was celebrating.
“American workers are ready to work harder than anybody else, but they just need to be given a shot,” Biden continued. “A fair shot and a fair wage. That’s not too much to ask—” before being cut off by the sound of a bump like somebody falling.
“You OK?” Biden asked, turning his head.
“I want the press to know that wasn’t me,” Biden quipped before stepping to the side and miming himself falling over.
Over the past couple of years Biden, who at age 80 is the oldest sitting president, has taken a couple of tumbles, leading critics to question whether he’s mentally and physically fit enough to serve as president or run for reelection.
“You watch Joe Biden over in Europe,” quipped Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) in July. “I mean, I’m afraid he’s going to fall down every time I turn on the television.”
On X, the moment was shared by Biden supporters as a moment of relatable, light humor and a good move in response to criticism of his age.
“He reminds me so much of my Grandpa it freaks me out,” wrote one user. “Especially the bit at the end.”
“Biden mocking the ‘lost walk’ showing me he’s still got enough juice for the general,” said another.
