Two reasons: hypocrisy and timing.
Hypocrisy: Trump spent four years mocking Joe Biden for stumbling on Air Force One stairs.
March 2021: Biden fell three times boarding in Atlanta — Trump played the clip at 12 rallies
June 2023: Biden fell at Air Force Academy — Trump said "that's not inspiring"
2024 campaign: Trump ads used the phrase "he can't walk up stairs, how can he run the country?"
When Trump stumbled, critics instantly reposted his own clips. Commentator Ron Filipkowski wrote on X: "Time to get Old Man Trump fitted for a wheelchair." Journalist Aaron Rupar noted: "When Biden did this, Fox played it like the moon landing."
Timing: The stumble came minutes after Trump told reporters he would send troops "everywhere" to stop LA protests over ICE raids. He was asked if he would invoke the Insurrection Act:
"Depends on whether or not there's an insurrection... We have violent people. And we're not going to let them get away with it... We're going to have troops everywhere."
The visual of a 79-year-old president (Trump turns 80 on June 14, 2026) gripping the railing while promising to deploy the military created a perfect meme for opponents: "he can't climb stairs but wants to occupy LA."
3. The Rubio "mummy" subplot
The photo also went viral because of a story Rubio told two weeks earlier.
In a New York Magazine interview published May 24, Rubio admitted he hides from Trump on long Air Force One flights because Trump never sleeps:
