WATCH: Moment 81-year-old Joe Biden stumbles on sandy beach during seaside getaway

11 November 2024, 09:55

Joe Biden seen stumbling across sand

US President Joe Biden stumbled as he tried to walk on sand during a vacation to his Delaware beach house.

Biden, 81, headed on vacation to Delaware in the wake of Donald Trump's election victory last week.

Accompanied by his wife Jill, the US’ oldest-ever sitting president stumbled as he appeared to struggle with the uneven Rehoboth beech ground.

The footage showed Jill extending an arm to prevent the outgoing commander-in-chief from falling.

Read more: Donald Trump 'urges Putin not to escalate Ukraine war' in phone call with Russian leader

Read more: Bitcoin soars to record high after Trump election victory

After the stumble, Biden quickened his pace as reporters shouted questions about Vice President Kamala Harris’ comprehensive election defeat.

Taking to Twitter, the Republican National Committee mocked: “Biden is currently battling the sand at his beach house in Delaware.

“The beach is winning.”

As the US approached the 2024 election, Joe Biden’s age, mental capacity and physical fitness became recurring talking points.

In July, Biden rejected suggestions his age would prevent him from defeating Donald Trump.

"I want you to know that despite all the speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump," Mr Biden wrote in a letter to Democrats.

Eventually though, following a disastrous debate performance and a series of verbal gaffes, including calling Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy “Putin”, he pulled out of the race.

Despite this, many still blame Biden for the Democrat's awful performance in last week’s election, with his critics slamming him for staying in the race for too long.

This latest incident comes ahead of a meeting between the president and Donald Trump.

The meeting, set to take place on Wednesday, between president-elect and sitting president is a tradition that was not observed when Mr Biden defeated Mr Trump in the 2020 election.

The pair are expected to discuss the presidential transition period between the two administrations.

The last such meeting took place between Barack Obama and Mr Trump in 2016 - in which they were said to have discussed foreign and domestic policy and agreed to work together to help "the country succeed".

In a short statement, President Biden's press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says: "At President Biden’s invitation, President Biden and President-Elect Trump will meet in the Oval Office on Wednesday at 11:00 am. Additional details to follow."

It will be the first meeting between the two men since the Presidential Debate in June which resulted in Biden's decision to withdraw from the race in favour of Ms Harris.

The two were also pictured together in New York on September 11 at Ground Zero to commemorate 23 years since the 9/11 attack.