A shocking bit of honesty occurred during CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront on Thursday night as the network's medical analyst recommended President Joe Biden start walking with a cane to prevent his frequent falls. The recommendation was uttered when cardiologist and former member of George W. Bush's medical team Doctor Jonathan Reiner was discussing Biden's fall from earlier in the day during a commencement address at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
"This is about the third time we've seen the President fall. He fell twice going up the steps of Air Force One once in 2021 and once earlier this year," Reiner observed.
Continuing his medical analysis, Reiner noted that Biden "has a stiff gait and the stiff gait which is felt to be secondary to, I think, some arthritis in his back, you know, contributes to him walking with this kind of shuffling gait. And if you hit a sandbag there's not a lot of flexibility and you go down."
"He's fine," Reiner said but "the optics are bad but he got unlucky and just tripped on the sandbag."
The doctor and CNN medical analyst then gave his recommendation to Biden live on CNN: "I would suggest to the President that he really needs to be careful and on unsteady ground it wouldn't be the worst thing for the President to use a cane. I know he may not like the optics but falling appears much worse."
This is surely not the kind of honest assessment CNN was looking for. The usual line after these incidents is that Biden is perfectly healthy and mentally alert. The leftist media then turns it around on Republicans and accuses them of pouncing on Biden's frequent falls.
The relevant transcript is below:
CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront
6/1/2023
7:29:56 p.m. EasternJONATHAN REINER: Well, falls are really common and they're especially common in the elderly. One out of about every four people over the age of 65 will fall this year. So it's super common. This is about the third time we've seen the President fall. He fell twice going up the steps of Air Force One once in 2021 and once earlier this year, and he has a stiff gait and the stiff gait which is felt to be secondary to, I think, some arthritis in his back, you know, contributes to him walking with this kind of shuffling gait. And if you hit a sandbag there's not a lot of flexibility and you go down. You know, he's fine. The optics are bad but he got unlucky and just tripped on the sandbag.
[...]
REINER: President Trump was very self-conscious about that incident and he was quite concerned about falling, look, I would suggest to the President that he really needs to be careful and on unsteady ground it wouldn't be the worst thing for the President to use a cane. I know he may not like the optics but falling appears much worse.
