Copyright Atlanta Black Star
Donald Trump is back on his favorite pastime — complaining about Joe Biden — but this time the subject matter has people wondering if he’s actually just worried about himself. But instead of focusing on policy or business matters, Trump used part of his recent speech to rant about stairs — yes, the ones on Air Force One. He complained about what he called the “children’s stairs” in a long-winded tangent that quickly sent social media into a frenzy for all the wrong reasons. ‘Could Barely Make it Up’: Donald Trump’s Wobbly Walk Reportedly Prompts Staircase Safety Measures to Stop Another Tumble While attending the America Business Forum in Miami on Nov. 5, Trump couldn’t resist taking shots at his predecessor, detailing what he sees as indignities suffered by the nation’s leadership. He painted a picture of Biden’s struggles with the aircraft’s smaller boarding stairs, but critics quickly pointed out that this seemed less like a legitimate concern and more like a projection from someone who’s had his own share of shaky moments. “Perhaps, like never before, our country is respected again. Like never — they were laughing at our country. We had a guy who couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs; he kept falling. It’s very embarrassing, you know,” Trump rambled, giving everyone a front-row seat to his unfiltered stream of consciousness. Adding, “Therefore, it’s one. I go, ‘Sir, would you like the short stairs or the longest?’ I said, ‘Give me the long every single time, please. The short ones aren’t for me — they call them the children’s stairs. I don’t want the children’s stairs. Doesn’t look so good coming out of the children’s stairs. Now, if the weather’s bad, it’s OK, right, if you don’t mind.” People on the internet, naturally, had mixed feelings about Trump’s remarks. One person observed, “He’s very embarrassing. There’s no set of stairs that will get around that fact.” The comment cut straight to the heart of the matter—that Trump’s preoccupation with stairs seemed to reveal more about his own insecurities than any actual concerns about presidential dignity. Another social media user wrote, “Grandpa’s worrying about falling down the stairs again,” perfectly capturing the irony of an elderly politician mocking another elderly politician for mobility concerns. Others wouldn’t let Trump forget exactly how much support he needed to use the stairs. “Bruh, you needed your hand held down a ramp,” one person added, referencing Trump’s own well-documented incident at West Point, where he appeared to struggle with a slightly sloped surface. The stair saga continued online with increasingly pointed observations. “It’s progressing more into the last stage of dementia. Balance problems,” one person tweeted, while another got creative with their criticism: “Easier to see the toilet paper stuck on his shoes on the big boy stairs.” Trump’s fixation on Biden’s October 2023 stumble on the shorter stairs of Air Force One seems particularly rich given his own history of unsteady moments. The irony of Trump’s commentary is that he’s apparently been obsessing over this children’s stairs narrative since 2023, bringing it up repeatedly as if it’s a winning talking point at his rallies and speaking engagements. It was a ploy to make who he thought he would be running against in 2024 look weak. Meanwhile, reports suggest that Trump’s own team has taken precautions aboard his aircraft to prevent potential tumbles. His wobbly descent down that West Point ramp in 2020 became instant meme material, with footage showing him gripping the handrail and taking careful, tentative steps. Recent photos reveal what appears to be step-by-step instructions added to Air Force One’s stairs, apparently designed to help the 79-year-old politician navigate the boarding process safely. The incident sparked widespread speculation about his physical condition, making his current criticisms of Biden feel like a case of the orange pumpkin calling someone else’s hair ridiculous. Trump’s children’s stairs comment reveals a fundamental truth about the president’s rhetorical strategy: he often accuses others of the very things he’s most sensitive about himself. His lengthy, meandering complaint about stair preferences at a business forum — of all places — suggests someone deeply preoccupied with appearances and perceived strength. The social media reactions perfectly captured this dynamic, with users pointing out that Trump’s obsession with the optics of stair-climbing might say more about his own fears of looking weak than any legitimate critique of Biden’s choices.
