Biden team fears 'nightmare scenario' of pre-election stumble: report

President Joe Biden and his team are working to prevent a potential "nightmare scenario" of a public stumble -- especially in the final weeks before next year's election.

Voters have expressed serious concerns about the 80-year-old president's age, so Biden has been doing exercises to improve his balance, wearing tennis shoes more often and using the short stairs on Air Force One, reported Axios.

"This isn't new," said White House spokesperson Andrew Bates. "It was proactively and transparently disclosed in a 2021 report from the president's doctor and again this year."

Senior Democrats are frustrated that Biden's advance team allowed the president to stumble over a sandbag in June at the Air Force Academy and doesn't always make sure he knows which direction to go after he speaks at a podium, which Republicans seize on as evidence of mental confusion, and they're especially concerned that he might trip and fall just before the November 2024 election.

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Biden's physician said his balance difficulties are the result of "a combination of significant spinal arthritis" and "mild post-fracture foot arthritis," and his doctor has recommended balance exercises he described as "proprioceptive maintenance maneuvers," although some medical experts aren't sure what that entails.

"I have never heard the term 'proprioceptive maintenance maneuvers,'" said James Gordon, associate dean and chair of the Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy at the University of Southern California. "It is not a clinical term in standard use."

The White House spokesman said concerns about Biden's physical fitness were overblown, and he said the president's team has been transparent about his medical history.

"This article fits an unfortunate pattern of media attempting to sensationalize something that has long been public," Bates said, "rather than covering the president's very real achievements for hardworking Americans."