 So it seems like Joe Biden's long history of inappropriately kissing and touching women has now caught up with him And I'm honestly surprised that we're all only talking about this now I think that a lot of people disregarded this story and really his behavior because he kind of chocks it up to look I'm just an an affectionate guy So you can't fault me for being too touchy-feely This is just the way that people in my generation are but I think that you've got to understand that Every person is different some people don't mind being touched others do others are very adamant that you respect their personal space I'm one of those people so when I see these photographs of Joe Biden I can tell that they are Uncomfortable in most instances now this conversation it all kind of came to a head And we all really started talking about this because the cut published an explosive piece by Lucy Flores on Friday Now Lucy Flores is a former Democratic Party nominee for lieutenant governor in the state of Nevada Now she wrote an article titled an awkward kiss Changed how I saw Joe Biden now She explains that when Joe Biden came out to give a stump speech for her when they were both backstage Waiting to speak she writes I felt him get closer to me from behind He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified. I thought to myself I didn't wash my hair today and the vice president of the United States is smelling it and also what in the actual fuck Why is the vice president of the United States smelling my hair? He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head my brain couldn't process what was happening and I was embarrassed I was shocked. I was confused Now she also explained a little bit more about how she was feeling in an interview with Jake Tapron CNN Very unexpectedly and out of nowhere. I feel Joe Biden put his hands on my shoulders Get up very close to me from behind lean in smell my hair and then plant a slow kiss on the top of my head and That in and of itself might not sound like it's a very serious thing that in and of itself might sound like it was Innocent and well well-intentioned but in the context of it as a person that had absolutely no relationship with him afterwards As a candidate who was preparing to make my case for why I should be elected elected the second in command of that state To have the vice president of the United States Do that to me so unexpectedly and just kind of out of nowhere It was just shocking it was shocking because you don't expect that kind of intimate behavior you don't expect that kind of intimacy from Someone so powerful and someone who you just have no relationship whatsoever to to touch you and to feel you and to be So close to you in that way. So I frankly just didn't even know how to react. I was just shocked I I felt I felt powerless. I felt like I couldn't move. I I just didn't even know how to process it So after she released this op-ed and kind of talked about her feelings there Joe Biden's comms director Bill Russo put out a statement from Joe Biden where he essentially says look This was not my intentions and I pledge to listen He states in my many years on the campaign trail and in public life I have offered countless handshakes hugs expressions of affection support and comfort and not once never did I believe I acted Inappropriately if it is suggested I did so I will listen respectfully, but it was never my intention so this essentially catalyzed the conversation about Intentions even if it's the case that Joe Biden didn't intend to make these women feel uncomfortable Does it still matter that he did this should we still be looking at his actions and blaming him? Is he culpable and I would argue of course? It doesn't matter that your intentions were pure you have to understand that every single person is different Some people are absolutely adamant about the fact that you respect their boundaries Now they're not always going to explicitly tell you you're too close or you're making me feel uncomfortable But there are a lot of social cues They may be subtle but they're there that you have to be able to read and With the career as long as Joe Biden's the fact that he hasn't been able to pick up on some of these more subtle social cues That he's making people feel uncomfortable. It's odd to me and as a person in a position of power It's clear that people maybe felt uncomfortable, but they just didn't want to say anything because I mean this is Joe Biden He's been in public office for decades So why would you want to confront someone with power who's making you feel uncomfortable when that might ruffle feathers? I mean that's kind of what happened with Lucy Flores She's now being attacked by Democratic Party loyalists who are accusing her of just doing this and coming out now specifically to help Bernie Sanders because she was once a Sanders surrogate but now since Joe Biden is Contemplating another presidential run. They're saying, you know, you're only doing this at the behest of Bernie Which I think is just nonsense Now people on the left who are defending Lucy Flores are pointing out rightfully so that Joe Biden has a long History of inappropriately touching women. For example, there's this now infamous Photograph of him with Defense Secretary Ash Carter's wife where he has his hands on her shoulders He's whispering in her ear and a lot of people kind of point to this as the main example that He doesn't realize he's often crossing the line or maybe he does realize it and he doesn't care However, Ash Carter's wife Stephanie Carter actually decided to come to his defense Now that we're all talking about this and she published an article in Medium where she says the photograph was misleadingly extracted From what was a longer moment between close friends and that she didn't feel that his behavior was inappropriate So essentially she's telling everyone look stop sharing that photo stop trying to be a white knight for me back off I don't think that he did anything wrong there But then what happened next was a second woman came forward who was an aid to congressman Jim Himes and Says that she was also inappropriately touched by Joe Biden quote It wasn't sexual, but he did grab me by the head He put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to rub noses with me when he was pulling me in I thought he was going to kiss me on the mouth Sometimes he clearly crosses the line, but other times I guess that he's not crossing the line because they're saying that they're not Uncomfortable, but the point is that what he needs to do is understand how his actions will be perceived and he needs to take Responsibility however centrists are saying well look he's clearly not harming them and his intentions are pure So all you're trying to do is drum up hate ahead of what will be an inevitable 2020 campaign And in fact that's kind of what one Biden spokesperson said he forcefully condemned all of this Conversation that's taking place right now and he says that you know This is nothing more than a cottage industry of lies where Biden is actually the victim of a malicious smear campaign And here's what I say to that It doesn't matter that Joe Biden is an overly affectionate touchy-feely Person what matters is that you have to be an adult and acknowledge that your actions May make people feel uncomfortable and even if they don't explicitly say Joe you're making me uncomfortable You have to be able to recognize and be cognizant of the fact that maybe they're telling you I'll be it not verbally So my argument and I think a lot of people on the left are arguing Just mad up and admit that you were wrong and try to learn try to listen to them And he said that he did want to listen But it seems like his team is starting to kind of retreat and it seems like a lot on the center left are just dog piling on Lucy Flores But I mean I think that's absurd because again Creepy Joe Biden is a meme not because of a malicious smear campaign. There's been a history of this It's been a problem for Joe Biden since before we even talked about him running for president again There's this now infamous video of him with Senator Chris Coons daughter where he is whispering in her ear He's trying to kiss her and you can see that she is visibly Uncomfortable and pulling away and yet he's still talking closely to her and clearly invading her personal space There's also another video where he's playing with a little girl's hair and kissing her on the head and being overly touchy-feely And again people will respond by saying but he's not doing that with malicious intent He's not doing it to be a perv now. That's debatable and sure it's true that maybe his intentions are pure But what I'm contending is that that does not matter your intentions can be pure But you can still make people feel very uncomfortable And as someone who does not like anyone invading my personal space as someone who does not like to be touched physically by other people I can tell you I would feel uncomfortable if I were in their situation now I want to share a clip from the view where they talked about this because I think it kind of Encapsulates everything that's wrong with the discussion. We're all having about this particular issue But it would have been nice if she had turned him and say, you know what Jay? I don't really like this to please don't do this or not mr. Vice president I'm not really comfortable with that something because he's standing right there No, it's hard to say to somebody who's somebody touches you Appropriately, but it wasn't that's the point and you know, we all know Joe Biden. He's been here I remember when I met him in Florida before he was vice president and he was so friendly He's the close talker. Yes, he comes right up into your face and you're thinking. I hope my breath is good You know and I'm more important. I hope his is yeah, and you know, so he talks close He touches you that's what he's like and I feel it would be really unfortunate if we got rid of everybody Who was just an affectionate kind of person? Well, you know what those are nice people, too He's also been in public office for about 50 years of his life Yeah, I do wonder if she could have sent him a letter. Well, that's right. Like send him a personal note to say Hey, this happened a few years ago. Now I feel confident and telling you about it. I don't want to make this public I always wonder when these things come out. What is the motive for this person? Is it is it simply to? Let people know I was uncomfortable which you could have done in private Or is it because you maybe want someone else to win and you want him to have doubts about Actually announcing for presidency I've had concerns about the Me Too movement from the beginning about getting to this place where you can't have normal interactions with each other That is to say like this one wasn't comfortable and that's her place But are we gonna get to a place? We can't shake hands We can't hug each other because that to me was uncomfortable. I worry about that So I think that that conversation right there demonstrated exactly why Lucy Flores was right To write an article about this and not just send him a personal letter as one of them Suggested because people are ignorant and people need to be educated that we've got to understand that our actions have consequences even unintended consequences You might not feel like you're doing anything wrong, but that's not how it's perceived to some people So the best thing that you can do is understand how your actions affect others and Learn what may or may not be appropriate try to read the subtle social cues That he's obviously ignoring So here's what I didn't like about that conversation. First of all whoopee Goldberg. She essentially Shifted the responsibility away from Joe Biden and on to Lucy Flores. Well, it's your own fault Why didn't you say? Joe stop doing this. I don't like that. You're doing this except. That's not her job. Joe Biden is an adult He's the one who should acknowledge that if you're going to kiss someone on the head Yeah, they may take offense to that They may feel uncomfortable and then Joy Bayhardt trying to brush it off as you know Someone who's just naturally he he's affection and he's touchy-feely and he always talks close Okay, that may be how he genuinely is as a person. I've known many people like this But that doesn't make it okay That means if you're that touchy-feely and you know, there's a number of people who feel uncomfortable with that who feel Uncomfortable with you talking this close to their face Maybe back off and then the worst came from Abby Huntsman Her comment was just absurd to me. She says are we going to get to a place where we can't shake hands We can't hug each other because that to me was uncomfortable. I worry about that Look, he doesn't know these women. He's meeting them for the first time. So presumably Boundaries have never been established if he wants a hug He needs to fucking ask for one and if he doesn't ask which he should but if he doesn't he needs to pay attention to the social Cues and think about whether or not his actions will make women feel uncomfortable now clearly It's the case that with Stephanie Carter. They knew each other So she knew that that was in his nature and she was okay with it But with Lucy Flores, he didn't know her. He didn't know how she would react when he kissed her and Let's flip it. Let's say he did this to a man. He kissed a man on the head Would that not be absurd? Nobody is trying to say that Anyone who hugs another human being or shakes their hand is An inherently bad person. Nobody's saying that and they always try to build this straw man argument to make their opponents Irrational but all we're saying is that Joe Biden needs to acknowledge that He is making people feel Uncomfortable as someone who does not like to be touched I can see how uncomfortable they are feeling and I can't speak for them maybe that's not the case, but I know I would be uncomfortable and People are just different every person is different Some people would probably love that Joe Biden is touchy feely and affectionate But not everyone is the same so you have to pay attention to the power dynamic and you have to be cognizant of the fact that not every single person is Going to feel the way that you feel if you feel affectionate if you love hugs great Not all of us are the same way So what we're asking is for people to acknowledge that your actions may be perceived a different way than you think they're being perceived Joe Biden hugging and kissing on women is Perceived by a lot of people rightfully so as completely inappropriate And I don't know how you can look at this video for example of him playing with a girl's hair and not think that that's inappropriate Not think that that crosses the line So it's honestly baffling to me that there are people on the left Who are trying to attack Lucy Flores now when this has all been Happening before our very eyes, but now they're trying to tell you ignore your lying eyes Joe Biden isn't creepy. Well, yeah, it is creepy You may not think it's creepy, but it comes off as creepy rightfully so to a lot of people So all that we're asking for is accountability all that we're asking for in the midst of this conversation is for people to Acknowledge that their actions have consequences and they may make people feel uncomfortable, but I mean I Just again, I'm shocked that it took this long for us to have this conversation And I knew that it was going to be a matter of time before it caught up with Joe Biden and unfortunately for him It's happening now, but I mean sorry, but if you've been in public office this long That's not going to help your case as Abby Huntsman said he's been in public office for more than 50 years Well, then he should have learned by now that people don't like to be touched that way often times He should have learned by now when you're interacting with this many people Not all of them are going to walk welcome a hug with open arms. Other people will be creeped out by that So, um, you know, this is a really important story And I hope that he genuinely is introspective and tries to learn and think deeply about the way he made women feel because it's unacceptable This behavior is inappropriate. Keep your disgusting mouth off of people You don't have the right to kiss anyone because you think you're being friendly Give people their personal space respect that or fuck off. We're gonna call you out for it