SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday brushed off allegations of inappropriate touching, making a joke about having “permission” to hug a union president who welcomed him to the stage in his first public appearance since multiple women have come forward with accusations a week ago.
“I just want you to know I had permission to hug Lonnie,” Biden said, referring to International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers President Lonnie Stephenson.
The potential 2020 contender for the Democratic nomination, who spoke in Washington, D.C., before a largely male audience at the union event, drew mixed reaction from his Twitter video tweet on Wednesday.
Biden said he will continue to govern in a way that connects with people but “will be more mindful and respectful of people’s personal space, and that’s a good thing,” he said in the video. “I worked my whole life to empower women. I’ve worked my whole life to prevent abuse … and so the idea that I can’t adjust to the fact that personal space is important, more important than it’s ever been, is just not thinkable. I will. I will.”
Following Biden’s statement on Twitter, President Donald Trump took to Twitter with a comment of his own — a doctored video with photos of Biden slowly rising behind the actual Biden’s shoulders, peering into the frame.
Biden later tweeted a dismissive response to the president: “I see that you are on the job and presidential, as always.”
The first woman to come forward with accusations of inappropriate touching by the former vice president was Lucy Flores, a former Nevada lawmaker, who said Biden crossed a line when he put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her on the back of her head while campaigning for her in 2014. Flores told ABC News that the interaction was “awkward and disturbing.”
A few days later, former Democratic congressional aide Amy Lappos said Biden rubbed noses with her at a 2009 fundraiser, an action she said left her feeling uneasy.
“It wasn’t sexual I don’t think, but it was incredibly uncomfortable, and it was not how he greeted the congressmen,” Lappos said.
Two more women told the New York Times on Tuesday that they also felt uncomfortable after interactions they had with the former vice president. One, who was 19 at the time and a sexual assault survivor, said Biden rested his hand on her thigh at an event at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. The other woman, who was 59 at the time, recalled Biden putting his hand on her shoulder before dropping it down her back while taking a photo, leaving her “very uncomfortable.”
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