Three more women have come forward to accuse former Vice President Joe Biden of inappropriately touching them, bringing the total to seven.
Vail Kohnert-Yount, Sofie Karasek, and Ally Coll shared their experiences with the former vice president with the Washington Post.
Kohnert-Yount, a former White House intern, told the Post she was trying to exit the basement of the West Wing when Biden approached to shake her hand. Biden “put his hand on the back of my head and pressed his forehead to my forehead while he talked to me,” she said.
“I was so shocked that it was hard to focus on what he was saying. I remember he told me I was a ‘pretty girl,’” she said.
Karasek said she met Biden after appearing at the Oscars with a group of 51 sexual assault survivors. She said she was telling Biden about her friend who had died by suicide when the former vice president pressed his head against hers, which she said made her feel uncomfortable.
Karasek said someone printed a photo of the moment, which she had framed. The photo sat on a shelf until the #MeToo movement began, drawing attention to cases of unwanted touching and leading to her deciding to take it down.
Coll was working as a Democratic staffer when she was introduced to Biden. She said when she met him, he complimented her smile, squeezed her shoulders, and held her “for a beat too long.”
“There’s been a lack of understanding about the way that power can turn something that might seem innocuous into something that can make somebody feel uncomfortable,” Coll said.
The three women join four others who have accused Biden of inappropriate contact. The release of their accusations comes hours after Biden released a video on Twitter addressing the complaints. He said criticism of the behavior might be explained by changing “social norms.”
“In my career, I’ve always tried to make a human connection, that’s my responsibility, I think,” Biden said in the video. “I shake hands, I hug people, I grab men and women by the shoulders and say, ‘You can do this.’ Whether they’re women, men, young, old, it’s the way I’ve always been.”
“The boundaries of personal space have been reset,” the former vice president said.
Biden, 76, is widely believed to be considering a run for the White House and has been polling higher than any of the announced candidates.
