White House counselor Kellyanne Conway teed off Sunday the GOP blasts at Vice President Joseph R. Biden over an allegation of inappropriate touching, saying he may have a “big problem” thanks to “creepy Uncle Joe” videos on social media.
Ms. Conway suggested that the past conduct of Mr. Biden, a potential candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, may be out of step with the #MeToo movement, given his public displays of affection with women.
“If anybody just types in ’creepy Uncle Joe videos,’ you come up with a treasure trove,” said Ms. Conway on “Fox News Sunday.”
In a Friday op-ed, former Nevada state legislator Lucy Flores accused Mr. Biden of putting his hands on her shoulders, smelling her hair, and kissing the back of her head at a 2014 campaign rally during her 2014 race for lieutenant governor. His spokesman said Mr. Biden and his staff do not recall the incident.
“You don’t expect that kind of intimacy from someone so powerful and someone who you just have no relationship whatsoever to touch you and to feel you and to be so close to you in that way,” Ms. Flores said in the New York magazine article.
She also referred to incidents of his conduct with women in public, citing “Biden nuzzling the neck of the Defense secretary’s wife; Biden kissing a senator’s wife on the lips; Biden whispering in women’s ears; Biden snuggling female constituents.”
.@KellyannePolls on @JoeBiden: If anybody just types in “Creepy Uncle Joe Videos” you come up with a treasure trove…I think Joe Biden has a big problem here because he calls it affection and handshakes, his party calls it completely inappropriate. pic.twitter.com/MKbbw2mUIC
— FoxNewsSunday (@FoxNewsSunday) March 31, 2019
Mr. Biden issued a statement Sunday saying he never believed he acted inappropriately in his dealings with people, adding, “If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention.”
Ms. Conway commended Ms. Flores for coming forward, saying, “It’s quite bold for her to go up against the highest levels of her own political party.”
“I think Joe has a big problem here because he calls it an affection handshake, his party calls it completely inappropriate,” said Ms. Conway.
Mr. Biden, who has not yet announced his candidacy, leads the crowded field of Democratic contenders seeking to defeat President Trump, who has been accused of inappropriate touching and kissing by more than a dozen women, according to the Washington Post Fact Checker, which he has denied.
In a CNN interview Sunday, Ms. Flores acknowledged that she supported Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic race — Mr. Biden was not a candidate — and attended Saturday’s campaign kick-off rally for Beto O’Rourke in El Paso, Texas.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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