The wife of former Defense Secretary Ash Carter is saying not so fast to all the critics of former Vice President Joe Biden’s touchy-feely ways with women who are recalling an infamous photograph from 2015.
In a Medium post published Sunday titled “The #MeToo Story That Wasn’t Me,” Stephanie Carter says comparisons to Nevada Democrat Lucy Flores’ revelation about an unwanted kiss on the back of her head during a campaign event in 2014 are unwarranted.
She hearkened back to a February 2015 ceremony marking Ash Carter being sworn in as former President Barack Obama’s fourth defense secretary.
“Upon our arrival at the Pentagon, I had slipped and fell on some ice — which a few journalists were nice enough to tweet about. Later, we went to the White House for the swearing in and I was feeling self-conscious and tentative (not a normal state for those who know me) about the fall — and perhaps about how much our life might change,” she wrote. “As we walked in the room, reporters were staged and a young woman from Huffington Post shouted to me to ask if I was doing all right — I was somewhat thrown (did I not look all right?) but quickly remembered news of my fall on the ice had traveled.”
“By the time then-Vice President Biden had arrived, he could sense I was uncharacteristically nervous- and quickly gave me a hug,” she added. “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. 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.”
Carter said in the years since there has been an unending stream of intrigue regarding the photos that came of that moment, including comparisons to other times when Biden put his hands on women. She said the next time she saw the Bidens, “I told them I felt awful that after he had generously taken time out of his day to swear in an old friend, his attempt to support me had become a joke and even more — supposed proof positive that he didn’t understand how to respect women. I thought it would all blow over if I didn’t dignify it with a response. But clearly that was wishful thinking.”
On Friday, Flores, 39, wrote Biden came up behind her, smelled her hair, and kissed her on the back of her head during a campaign event in 2014. She has since been interviewed and says that in her opinion the incident should disqualify him for the presidency as he considers another bid for the White House.
Biden, 76, said in a statement Sunday he never thought he acted inappropriately to women on the campaign trail or while in office and was defended by former colleagues and friends, including ex-senior staffer Cynthia Hogan, now a vice president at Apple, who said Biden was “wonderful” because of the way that he treated women.
