Lucy Flores and Joe Biden. Politico/Getty.
Front-runner presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden has been accused by a former Nevada lawmaker of kissing her without consent. Politico. Lucy Flores, who had ran as a Democrat in the Nevada Lieutenant Governor's race, said that while she was at a campaign rally Biden came up behind her, sniffed her hair and then kissed the back of her head. Biden has always had a reputation as someone who doesn't respect personal boundaries. However, Biden denied the accusations. It is unclear if it will effect his run in 2020, which he hasn't officially announced yet.
My Comment:
I've been saying for years now that if Joe Biden were to run for president, in the current political environment, he would face this issue.There are so many clips and videos of Biden touching women and girls in a way that clearly made them look uncomfortable that sooner or later someone would come forward and complain about it. I should have put money on it because I would be rich right now, but I don't know if anyone would have taken the bet. Biden has been known for years as a creepy person.
As for this case in particular, it's fairly minor. Biden was clearly acting as a creep as I can barely picture a situation where sniffing someone's hair isn't creepy and you probably shouldn't kiss someone without their permission. That being said, it's fairly minor in the big scheme of things. Biden isn't accused or raping or even groping someone, just being a dirty old man.
But it is a symptom of a bigger problem for Joe Biden. He's done this kind of creepy thing with kids as well. There's dozens of clips of him making kids uncomfortable while he was touching them. Generally speaking, it appears that Biden does the same thing with kids that he does with adult women.
And I don't doubt Lucy Flores' story at all. Indeed, Biden did the same thing to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter's wife, Stephanie, on video in front of the press. The only difference is that Biden didn't smell her hair, but he clearly kisses her from behind. It caused a minor scandal for Biden even back then, so it's not like these accusations are new or anything.
So my conclusion was always this. Joe Biden is, at the very least, a creepy handsy guy that doesn't really get personal boundaries. He makes a lot of people pretty uncomfortable and those people include women and young girls. Anything beyond that is pure speculation, but the question for the Democrats is if that is enough to get rid of Joe Biden?
After all, the standards of behavior are changing rapidly on the left. The #MeToo movement has gone after people that did less then Joe Biden. Al Franken lost his senate seat because he pretended to grab a sleeping woman's chest and was accused of kissing her without permission, and Biden has done more then that. Franken was a popular senator in a critical state but he still lost his job.
I can see it going one of two ways. First is that this all gets swept under the rug. I am guessing that most people, including myself, will say that Biden's behavior is clearly creepy but not so over the top that he should be denied a run for the presidency. As far as I can tell he hasn't committed anything that would result in a conviction for sexual assault, even if you could technically charge someone for kissing someone without permission. He's a creep but as far as we know he isn't a groper or rapist.
On the other hand the #MeToo movement seems to be all about punishing men who are on the margins of normal behavior. Aziz Ansari and Louis C.K. didn't do anything non-consensual but they had their careers attacked as well. Biden's worse then either of them because it's clear that he touches people without their consent, so my guess is the #MeToo people aren't going to give him a pass.
I do wonder about the timing of this. Very little in politics happen without a cause and I doubt that Lucy Flores just came out of nowhere for this. I am guessing she talked to one of the factions of the Democratic Party who want Biden gone so they can get their own candidate in as nominee. Biden is popular among the Democratic base but the woke identity politics wing and the economic wing both hate him and want him gone. Given that this story broke in the pre-primary announcement phase and not during a general election you can be sure that the origin of this story isn't from the GOP.
Time will tell how this plays out. I think that if this is the only accusation, Biden should be safe. But the sheer number of women and girls we have on video who look very uncomfortable around Biden means that I doubt this is the last we will hear about this. It may very well take down Biden and his campaign before it is even launched officially...
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