Joe Biden Falls Off Bike — Joe Biden sitting on pavement after falling off his bicycle while wearing a helmet, dark shorts, and blue sneakers.

Joe Biden Falls Off Bike

2022viral videoclassic

Published October 8, 2026

On June 18th, 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden tipped over while dismounting his bicycle near Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and the pool-camera clip hit Twitter within minutes. The stumble went viral across platforms over the following weekend, fueling a wave of Photoshops, political cartoons, and a widely shared fake Atlantic headline that became one of the summer's biggest political reaction clips.

political satire memes fail memes viral photo memes photoshop memes 2022 memes

Overview

Joe Biden Falls Off Bike refers to a short clip of President Biden losing his balance and tumbling to the pavement while dismounting a bicycle during a June 2022 photo-op in Delaware1. The footage itself is unglamorous: Biden pulls up, catches his foot in the toe cage, and goes down sideways on the gravel while Secret Service agents rush in2. Because he was 79 at the time, the clip was instantly folded into an ongoing argument about his age and fitness for office3.

The meme output split into two lanes. One lane was straight political mockery, Photoshops of training wheels and Hello Kitty decals on Biden's bike, Ben Garrison cartoons, and How It Started vs How It's Going edits3. The other lane was ironic defense of the fall, driven by a fabricated screenshot of an Atlantic headline reading 'The Heroism of Biden's Bike Fall,' which was later debunked by Reuters as fake4. Together the two lanes kept the clip in rotation for the better part of a week.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter (viral spread)
Date
2022

On June 18th, 2022, a White House pool report captured Biden toppling over as he stopped his bike to greet onlookers near Rehoboth Beach, Delaware2. The raw clip was uploaded to Twitter the same day by user @jonboy79788314, who said a friend had filmed it and tagged it with #EpicFail and #BidenIsAFailure5. Reuters confirmed the fall and ran a wire photo of Biden on the ground, noting he was uninjured and told reporters his foot had gotten stuck in the toe cage2.

The Guardian uploaded a longer version of the dismount and aftermath to YouTube that same day, which pulled in roughly 791,000 views over the following 48 hours1. The pool video, not any single edit, is the origin artifact, no individual creator made the meme format, the clip itself was the meme.

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How It Spread

The clip moved fast on Twitter the day it was filmed. @jonboy79788314's upload pulled in roughly 23.5 million views and 9,100 likes in three days5, and reporter Nikki Schwab's repost added another 7.7 million views over 48 hours3. The gimmick account Crazy Ass Moments in American Politics put the clip in front of its political-chaos audience and picked up around 1.3 million views and 66,300 likes7.

Meme output followed within hours. @bennyjohnson's Photoshop of training wheels and Hello Kitty stickers on Biden's bike earned about 18,800 likes in three days6, and GrrrGraphics published a Ben Garrison cartoon on Facebook the next day3. On June 19th, @kingbullyo tweeted the fake Atlantic 'Heroism of Biden's Bike Fall' screenshot, and actor James Woods boosted it to roughly 12,200 likes before deleting the post once Reuters published its fact-check on June 21st calling the headline altered4.

The political afterlife kept it alive. Former President Donald Trump worked the fall into a June 18th American Freedom Tour speech, pledging 'I will never, ever ride a bicycle,' a line The Hill clipped and posted to Twitter where it drew about 1.2 million views8. Biden himself addressed the stumble to reporters at Gordon's Pond Beach on June 20th, which Schwab also filmed and posted9.

Timeline

2022-06-18

Biden falls while dismounting his bike near Rehoboth Beach; pool footage uploaded to Twitter by @jonboy79788314 and to YouTube by The Guardian the same day[5][1].

2022-06-18

Crazy Ass Moments in American Politics reposts the clip, which draws roughly 1.3 million views in two days[7].

2022-06-18

@bennyjohnson posts a Photoshop of training wheels and Hello Kitty stickers on Biden's bike[6].

2022-06-18

Trump jokes about the fall at the American Freedom Tour, promising never to ride a bicycle[8].

2022-06-19

@kingbullyo tweets a fake Atlantic headline calling the fall 'heroic'; James Woods boosts the screenshot[4].

2022-06-20

Biden addresses the fall to reporters at Gordon's Pond Beach; clip posted by @NikkiSchwab[9].

2022-06-21

Reuters publishes a fact-check confirming the Atlantic headline is fabricated; Woods deletes his tweet[4].

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How to Use This Meme

Most posts in the format pair the fall clip or a still frame with a caption riffing on Biden's age, cognitive state, or physical coordination. A common convention is the Photoshop variant, adding training wheels, kid stickers, or safety gear to the bike, as in @bennyjohnson's Hello Kitty edit6. Others pair the still with reaction images, like LeBron James staring, captioned as a pundit watching the clip for the first time3. The fake 'Heroism of Biden's Bike Fall' Atlantic headline is still recycled as an ironic defense format.

Frequently Asked Questions