Biden is ‘just not fit’: Ari Fleischer
Fox News contributor Ari Fleischer says President Biden is ‘blocking out’ the major Democratic candidates who would run for the presidency.
Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer criticized the New York Times' coverage of former President Donald Trump's health versus President Joe Biden's health. He told "The Faulkner Focus" Friday that "it's easy to see why" Americans have "lost trust" in the media after numerous outlets were quick to downplay Biden's fall during an Air Force graduation ceremony.
BIDEN TUMBLES DURING AIR FORCE COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY
ARI FLEISCHER: [Joe Biden] still has the mainstream media in his corner. I pulled the coverage from when The New York Times covered Donald Trump when he slowly walked down a ramp at West Point. Here was the story in The New York Times: 'Trump's halting walk down ramp raises new health questions,' and the story was full of allegations that Donald Trump isn't healthy enough at 74 to be the president because he walked slowly down a ramp. Here's the New York Times coverage of Biden actually falling: ‘Biden falls on stage at Air Force commencement. A White House official said President Biden was totally fine.’ What does the New York Times do when Biden falls? They just go right for the White House spin. What do they do when Donald Trump doesn't fall? They say it raises questions about Trump's health. And by the way, in that New York Times story today about Biden falling, they again raise the issue of Donald Trump walking slowly down a ramp after his speech at West Point. The media is in the tank, and when you watch the video, it's easy to see why people have lost trust in the American media.
TOPSHOT - US President Joe Biden is helped up after falling during the graduation ceremony at the United States Air Force Academy, just north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, on June 1, 2023. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images) (Brendan Smialowski)
President Biden, in 2020, took aim at then-President Donald Trump for awkwardly walking down a ramp at a commencement speech — remarks that came back to haunt him on Thursday when he took a tumble over a sandbag at a commencement ceremony at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Trump took heat from critics, including Biden, when he walked gingerly down the ramp at a West Point commencement ceremony in September 2020. Then-candidate Biden, in the midst of a presidential campaign, took a swipe at the Republican incumbent.
"Look at how he steps and look at how I step. Watch how I run up ramps and he stumbles down ramps," Biden joked. "Come on."
Biden hit the deck on Thursday after having delivered the Air Force Academy’s commencement address earlier in the day. The White House said the president tripped over a sandbag and that he was not injured by the fall.
Trump, who is also running for another term in the White House, was told about Biden’s fall on Thursday — and immediately referenced the ramp controversy in 2020.
"Well, I hope he wasn’t hurt, but the whole thing, look — the whole thing is crazy. You gotta be careful about that… because you don’t want that — even if you have to tiptoe down a ramp," he said.
Fox News' Adam Shaw, Thomas Catenacci and Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
