Newly released emails show the Biden White House was quietly cutting events from Joe Biden’s schedule over concerns about his ability to handle basic physical activity, even more than a year before he dropped out of the 2024 race.
The documents, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust, reveal that aides canceled a July 2023 visit to the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel in Philadelphia after realizing it involved climbing “lots of steps on grating.” The shipyard was hosting a significant clean energy project by the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) and had invited Biden to see the work in progress.
In a July 17, 2023, email, a MARAD official wrote, “No visit to the NSMV vessel is planned after the WH realized how many steps were involved to get on the ship.” The comment came alongside frustrations that the agency had not been in direct contact with the White House, learning of the potential visit only through the Philadelphia shipyard.
Unearthed emails reveal White House nixed Biden visiting ship because of 'how many steps were involved' https://t.co/cU0bd4WjTq
— Anne (@Raggedyann1959) August 12, 2025
The decision to cancel came just weeks after Biden’s widely publicized fall at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation in Colorado Springs on June 1, 2023, when he tripped over a sandbag. That moment intensified growing public perceptions that the then-81-year-old president was physically frail and unfit for the rigors of the office.
Around the same time, White House officials were publicly pushing back against claims—mostly from conservatives and President Donald Trump’s campaign—that Biden’s age and stamina were affecting his job performance. Yet behind the scenes, they were quietly scaling back events that required physical exertion.
Michael Chamberlain, director of Protect the Public’s Trust, blasted the revelations in comments to Fox News Digital. “There’s an awful lot wrong here,” Chamberlain said. “The president’s staff was proscribing events he couldn’t physically handle more than a year before he dropped out of the reelection race, all while lambasting anyone who claimed he wasn’t fit enough to complete the Ironman Competition.”
Chamberlain also criticized the logistical handling of the planned shipyard visit, noting the White House failed to properly coordinate with the Department of Transportation, which oversees MARAD.
The emails now serve as fresh evidence that concerns over Biden’s physical decline were not a last-minute campaign crisis but a long-running issue his team had been managing well before the public saw signs of it. For critics, it raises serious questions about what else was being kept quiet from voters.
They should have let Joe fall flat on his face.