Biden Jokes About Touching in First Appearance Since Women’s Complaints
Biden Jokes About Touching in First Appearance Since Women’s Complaints
(Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden twice joked about asking for permission to hug people during his first appearance since the emergence of complaints from women about how he touched them, then said later he was sorry for not understanding the effect of his actions.
In a speech to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Friday in Washington, the former vice president made only a glancing reference to disclosures by several women who’ve expressed their discomfort with Biden’s style of physical contact with people he meets.
He embraced IBEW International President Lonnie Stephenson as he took the stage, and joked, “I just want you to know, I had permission to hug Lonnie.’’ In a more awkward moment, he invited some children in the audience up to the stage, and after putting his arm around a young boy, he said the child “gave me permission to touch him.”
Biden is moving toward announcing a presidential campaign and is positioning himself as the Democrat with the best chance to win back many of the middle-class voters who flocked to President Donald Trump in 2016. But he’s been grappling with how to respond the complaints and questions from some Democrats about whether his touch-intensive political style makes him the wrong candidate for the #MeToo era and for a party reliant on female voters angry about Trump.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Biden said the jokes were not an attempt to make light of the experiences of the women who’ve accused him of acting inappropriately.
Intention
It was “never my intention’’ to make anyone uncomfortable, Biden said, adding that he “wouldn’t be surprised’’ if other women were to make similar complaints.
Asked whether he would apologize to the women, Biden said he is “sorry I didn’t understand” that they weren’t comfortable with his hugs and other contact. “I’m not sorry for any of my intentions. I’m not sorry for anything I’ve ever done. I’ve never been disrespectful, intentionally, to a man or a woman.”
Still, he said he realized that his actions no longer fit with the times and that “It’s going to have to change somewhat how I can campaign.’’
Reaction from Women
While his comments Friday drew laughter and cheers from a blue-collar crowd made up predominantly of older white men, they attracted criticism from Democratic women who heard it as tone deaf.
“WHO IS ADVISING BIDEN THIS IS CRAZY,” Zerlina Maxwell, a former Hillary Clinton communications adviser, wrote on Twitter.
“Holy crap! How in the world did Biden think a joke about consent was a good idea?” tweeted Christine Pelosi, a Democratic National Committee member from California and the daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “Yukking it up while women are still asking for respect and apology is not the way. #DoBetter Joe.”
The bulk of his speech was a tribute to hourly workers and a lament that corporations no longer feel responsibility to employees.
Union Support
“This country was not built by Wall Street bankers and CEOs and hedge fund managers,’’ Biden said. “It was built by the great American middle class.’’
He added that “some politicians are afraid to use the word unions. Not me. Unions built this middle class.’’
Biden, 76, has led in early polls of primary voters and could capture significant support from major Democratic donors, many of whom have held off from backing other candidates while awaiting his decision. The controversy over his hugs and touches doesn’t appear to be derailing his plans to enter the race in the coming weeks.
“I am very close to making the decision to stand before you all very soon,” Biden said.
The accusations emerged in the past week, after former Nevada assemblywoman Lucy Flores wrote about her uncomfortable interaction with the former vice president in a New York magazine column published last Friday. None of the women have said that they felt Biden’s actions were a form of sexual assault or harassment.
‘Social Norms’
Biden and his spokesman initially responded with written statements before releasing a two-minute web video on Wednesday in which he promised change but did not apologize to anyone who he’d made feel uncomfortable.
“Social norms have begun to change, they’ve shifted, and the boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset. And I get it. I get it. I hear what they’re saying, I understand," he said in the video. "I will be more mindful and respectful of people’s personal space. And that’s a good thing.”
Other Democrats, including those already running for president, haven’t called on Biden to reconsider his expected entry into the race, but several have said his statements that he never intended anything untoward aren’t enough.
Trump has taken jabs at Biden despite his own history of accusations of sexual misconduct. He retweeted a doctored version of the video Biden released on Wednesday addressing the complaints. In the altered version, while Biden is speaking a cartoon-like version of the former vice president appears behind him to caress his shoulder and nuzzle the back of his head.
The tweet had the text, “WELCOME BACK JOE!’’
It indicates that Trump’s history won’t restrain him from hammering Biden on the issue should he emerge as the Democratic nominee.
Speaking to reporters as he left the White House Friday for an event on the border with Mexico, Trump said he doesn’t view Biden as a political threat.
“He’s only a threat to himself,” Trump said. “His record’s not good, he’d have to run on the Obama failed record.”
Yet in a sign Trump may be taking Biden seriously, he wrote a taunting tweet just after the speech to the union ended: “I’ve employed thousands of Electrical Workers. They will be voting for me!’’
--With assistance from Margaret Talev.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Epstein in Washington at jepstein32@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Joe Sobczyk, John Harney
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