Joe Biden denies #MeToo allegation that he kissed a Democratic lawmaker without her consent.

Former Vice President Joe Biden. Reuters. 

2020 presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden has denied an allegation that he kissed a Democratic lawmaker without consent. Reuters. Biden was accused by Lucy Flores who was a candidate for Lieutenant Governor. Flores claimed that at a campaign rally, Biden walked up behind her, sniffed her hair and then kissed the back of her head. Biden says he did not recall the incident and he also said that during his many years interacting with people he feels he has never acted inappropriately. Biden said that despite that, he was willing to listen to women and said they do not always see things the same way men do. 

My Comment:

This whole situation is hilarious to me. It's very clear that the Democratic Party is tearing itself apart over this incident and it's may have even derailed Joe Biden's presidential run before it even started. I have said for years now that this issue was going to burn Biden if he runs and it's clear that it is happening. What isn't clear is if this will take him down or not. 

I don't really buy Biden's apology. He says he doesn't remember the incident in question, which is very likely and believable enough. Biden's met hundreds of people and glad-handed with many of them. What isn't likely is that Biden didn't do what he is accused of it. There are dozens of videos of Biden doing the exact same thing to other women and girls. It's fairly unlikely that Flores would be lying about something that he's proven to have done many times. 

Will Biden saying he will listen to women help him? I doubt it. It's not quite an admission of guilt but it is an admission that he thinks men are bad, which is essentially the same thing. And the people that actually care about this kind of thing won't accept anything less than a total apology and removal from polite society, and even then he still won't win them over. 

Biden won't do either of those things but I also don't see him doing what works when you are involved in a scandal like this. Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Brett Kavanaugh had similar accusations against them and they all survived. How? They fought back. They showed that they were outraged by the accusations, denied them and pointed out the political timing of the accusations against them. It helps that in all three of those cases the men were likely innocent while Biden is guilty as hell (at the very least he's done what he's accused of before, even if the accusation by Lucy Flores is up in the air), but still, it seems to be the only way to fight these kinds of sexual scandals. 

Some of the other 2020 candidates can smell blood in the water and have already said that they believe Lucy Flores. Elizabeth Warren and Julian Castro, both longshot candidates at this point, are on Flores' side. They haven't called on him to resign from the race (he hasn't officially entered it but regardless), but I think they will if/when new accusations come. Either way, they see what is happening and want to take political advantage of it. 

I think that more accusations are coming. With so many people on video being uncomfortable around Biden it seems impossible that nobody else will come forward. Some of those people will likely be credible but you will also likely have your nutjobs that are doing it for attention. If a flood of accusations do come Biden is probably finished. 

But does he deserve it for what he has done? I have no love for Joe Biden and would love to see him crash and burn but I don't know. If the accusations were just about women I don't think he did all that much wrong. Biden's pretty clearly a dirty old man who doesn't respect boundaries and gets way too handsy for his own goods. But I don't think that disqualifies him from the presidency. Pretty much every President has had his sex scandals so I don't think it matter too much. Plus, compared to some of those scandals Biden's behavior is pretty tame. 

But Biden hasn't just done what he has done to women. He's done the same thing to many girls and teenage women as well. And that goes far beyond what he did with adult women. Touching or kissing a woman without her consent is a minor problem. Doing it to kids though? Huge deal. And if one of those kids come forward Biden is done and he would deserve it...