President Joe Biden’s aides are concerned that his shuffling gait and solo walk to Marine One have made the 81-year-old appear even older.
To address this, the aides are now joining Biden on the march from the White House to the presidential helicopter.
The aides believe that having themselves walk between Biden and journalists’ cameras will draw less attention to Biden’s halting and stiff walk.
Voters have expressed concern about Biden’s age as he seeks a second term, with an NBC poll earlier this month finding that the idea that Biden ‘may not have the necessary mental and physical health to be president for a second term’ was a top concern.
It was Biden himself who suggested that aides walk with him, as the president seeks to counter these concerns.
Since mid-April, Biden has been joined by deputy chiefs of staff Annie Tomasini and Bruce Reed, top adviser Mike Donilon, and press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre as he heads to Marine One.
Prior to this, Biden’s walks to and from Marine One at the White House were often by himself or with family members.
The White House has tried to turn questions about Biden’s age into an argument that he is the most experienced person to hold the office.
However, as voters continue to express concerns about Biden’s age in a way they do not about the 77-year-old former President Trump, there has been a subtle shift in strategy.
Biden is now making jokes repeatedly about his age, quipping at a recent event that the microchips being made at the factory he was visiting were “4000 times thinner than a single hair on your head and I got some very thin hair on my head.”
The president has also taken to wearing sneakers or hiking boots, including the Hoka ‘Transport’ sneakers, which typically retail for $150.
Additionally, Biden has been using the shorter staircase on Air Force One, which has fewer steps, and doing balancing exercises.
Biden’s doctor has admitted that the president has a stiff gait, with the president’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, noting in reports on Biden’s physicals that he has suffered from a ‘stiffened ambulatory gait.’
O’Connor has recommended physical therapy, specifically ‘proprioceptive maintenance maneuvers,’ and shoe orthotics to help with Biden’s walking.
Biden, who works out most mornings at the White House gym, has been doing balancing exercises with Drew Contreras, who was a physical therapist in the Army and worked with former President Barack Obama when he was in the White House.
