Former Vice President Joe Biden was accused of inapproriately touching and kissing a Nevada Democratic politician in 2014.
Former Nevada Assemblywoman Lucy Flores said in an essay at The Cut that Biden invaded her personal space during a campaign event while she was running for lieutenant governor.
"I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified," Flores wrote. "He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldn't process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused."
"I couldn't move, and I couldn't say anything. I wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me,” she added.
Biden says he never ‘acted inappropriately:
Biden said in a statement that he does not believe he has ever acted inappropriately in response to Flores’ comments.
"In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort," Biden said. "And not once - never - did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention."
Flores responded to the statement on CNN.
"Frankly, my point was never about his intentions, and they shouldn't be about his intentions. It should be about the women on the receiving end of that behavior,” she said.
Conway says Biden has a “big problem”:
Conway, who works for a man who has been accused of sexual assault or misconduct by more than a dozen women and was caught on tape bragging about grabbing women “by the pussy” without their consent, said on Fox News that Biden had a “big problem” after Flores’ allegation.
"If anybody just types in 'Creepy Uncle Joe Videos' you come up with a treasure trove," Conway said. "I think Joe Biden has a big problem here because he calls it affection and handshakes, his party calls it completely inappropriate."
It’s true that there are many clips of Biden being handsy with women and girls at events.
One of the women pictured in the viral moments of Biden’s touching wrote an essay this weekend saying that the image was taken out of context.
Stephanie Carter, the wife of former Defense Secretary Ash Carter, wrote in a Medium essay that she wanted to “reclaim” her story.
“I absolutely support her right to speak her truth and she should be, like all women, believed,” Carter wrote of Flores’ claim. “But her story is not mine. The Joe Biden in my picture is a close friend helping someone get through a big day, for which I will always be grateful. So, as the sole owner of my story, it is high time that I reclaim it — from strangers, Twitter, the pundits and the late-night hosts.”
“He could sense I was uncharacteristically nervous — and quickly gave me a hug. After the swearing in, as Ash was giving remarks, he leaned in to tell me ‘thank you for letting him do this’ and kept his hands on my shoulders as a means of offering his support,” she explained. “But a still shot taken from a video — misleadingly extracted from what was a longer moment between close friends — sent out in a snarky tweet — came to be the lasting image of that day.”
