Biden Responds to Accusation About His Behavior

Former Nevada candidate says kiss left her embarrassed and confused
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 31, 2019 12:24 PM CDT
Biden Responds to Accusation About His Behavior
Joe Biden issued a statement Sunday after an accusation of inappropriate behavior.   (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Accused of inappropriate conduct at a 2014 campaign event, Joe Biden said Sunday he didn't believe that he acted inappropriately. But "if it is suggested I did so," he said in a statement, "I will listen respectfully." Lucy Flores was a Democrat running for lieutenant governor of Nevada, Fox News reports, when she attended a rally with Biden. While waiting to go onstage, she writes, she "felt two hands on my shoulders." Biden then sniffed her hair and gave her "a big slow kiss on the back of my head." She was left embarrassed, shocked, and confused, she said. Flores said she told a few members of her staff. Then, she writes, "I did what most women do, and moved on with my life and my work."

Biden, who has not said he's running for president but hinted that an announcement is near, leads the pack in a new poll, per CNN. One of his Democratic rivals, Amy Klobuchar, said Sunday that she has no reason not to believe Flores' accusation, the Hill reports. "In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life," Biden's statement said, "I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort." Trump aide Kellyanne Conway said Sunday, per Real Clear Politics, "I think Joe Biden has a big problem here because he calls it affection and handshakes, his party calls it completely inappropriate." (Biden's comments about the treatment of Anita Hill didn't help him.)

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