Former Vice President Joe Biden’s creepiness around women isn’t anything new, but for some reason the media latched onto his “touching problem” earlier this week, once other Democrats’ campaigns had a stake in the game. And while multiple women claim they were touched inappropriately, many of Biden’s friends on the Left don’t seem to be all that concerned, stating that he needs to just change things in the future.
Biden’s Republican friends from the Senate are also getting into the act. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, came out in defense of Biden’s actions, saying that it’s part of his personality.
“I’ve known Joe Biden for so many years, and he is a very friendly, affectionate individual who is a natural toucher — never found him to be inappropriate,” Collins said Wednesday.
Graham agreed, noting that Biden is a longtime friend with good intentions, even as a “glad-handling politician.”
Biden finally addressed the scandal on Wednesday as well, saying on Twitter that “it’s the way I’ve always been.”
Social norms are changing. I understand that, and I’ve heard what these women are saying. Politics to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future. That’s my responsibility and I will meet it. pic.twitter.com/Ya2mf5ODts
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 3, 2019
But is it an excuse for Biden’s actions?
Touching the shoulders of a nervous and upset woman is one thing. From the details we now know about that encounter, it seems that Biden was genuinely being supportive. But flat out kissing congressmen’s wives, or other women, on the mouth is something completely different, not to mention touching their young daughters inappropriately. I don’t care how innocent Biden’s intentions are, you don’t touch girls the way that Biden does. These actions have never been okay, and despite what Biden may believe, and changing “social norms” aren’t the culprit.
As my colleague Philip Klein at the Washington Examiner noted Thursday, nobody is calling Biden a sexual predator or a rapist, and that’s as it should be. Certainly, intent does matter, and good ole Uncle Joe doesn’t seem to have any idea of his wrongdoings, at least not until recently.
But it would be just as wrong to completely brush off Biden’s “friendliness” as something harmless. It is indeed a problem that has been going on far too long, and it needs to stop. At least Biden has now admitted that he has a problem.
