Amid complaints of unwanted touching,
Biden jokes he got 'permission' to hug
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[April 06, 2019]
By James Oliphant
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Vice
President Joe Biden, facing a growing swell of allegations that he has
made women uncomfortable with his use of physical contact, made light of
the controversy on Friday while continuing to lay the groundwork for a
2020 presidential run.
Speaking to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in
Washington, Biden joked that he “had permission” to hug the union’s male
president, Lonnie Stephenson.
The welcoming, mostly male audience responded with laughter and cheers.
Biden made a similar joke again after inviting some children of the
attendees on stage and draping his arm around a boy.
Biden's remarks were his first public comments since more than a
half-dozen women aired their complaints that he had touched them
inappropriately at political events.
In spite of the jokes, Biden told reporters after the event he is taking
the complaints about his personal conduct seriously. But he stopped
short of apologizing.
“The fact of the matter is I've made it clear that if I made anyone feel
uncomfortable I feel badly about that," he said. "It was never my
intention, ever, ever, ever.
"I'm sorry I didn't understand more. I'm not sorry for any of my
intentions. I'm not sorry for anything that I have ever done - I've
never been disrespectful intentionally, to a man or a woman."
He pledged the concerns would change how he campaigns should he run for
president. Biden, who served eight years as vice president under
President Donald Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, and decades as a
U.S. senator, is expected to announce his plans later this month.
Sources close to Biden told Reuters this week that the flap over his
history of hugging and touching members of the public at political
events has not deterred an expected White House bid.
Biden's remarks on Friday were similar to those he offered in a video he
released earlier this week on social media, in which he acknowledged
that concepts of “personal space” had changed in the context of the #MeToo
movement.
The enduring controversy underscores the challenge the 76-year-old
career politician faces should he run.
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Former Vice President Joe Biden who is mulling a 2020 presidential
candidacy, speaks at the International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers’ (IBEW) construction and maintenance conference in
Washington, U.S., April 5, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
While Biden consistently sits atop public opinion polls assessing the
2020 Democratic field, some in the party have said he is out of step
with its more progressive, diverse and younger elements.
His travails have been noticed by Trump, who on Thursday retweeted a
doctored version of Biden’s video response to the accusations.
On Friday, Trump told reporters Biden is “going through a situation” and
said he doesn’t regard him as a political threat.
“I think he’s only a threat to himself,” Trump said at the White House
before departing on a trip to California.
During his speech to the electrical workers union, Biden largely stuck
to what is expected to be a persistent theme of his presidential
campaign: the vitality of the nation’s middle class.
"This country was not built by Wall Street banks, and CEOs and hedge
fund managers,” he said. “It was built by the great American middle
class."
He criticized Trump, arguing the president undermines the country’s core
values and is obsessed with settling personal scores.
And, highlighting the tension between Biden and other forces within the
Democratic Party, he again complained about attacks from “the far left”
over his pledge to work with Republicans should he be elected president.
“How do you get something done?” he wondered aloud.
(Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu and Steve Holland in Washington;
editing by Colleen Jenkins, Susan Thomas and James Dalgleish)
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