Last week, former state Senator Lucy Flores (D-NV) sparked a political firestorm when she came forward to accuse former Vice President Joe Biden of sexual misconduct.
Biden has yet to officially announce his plans to run for president in 2020, but, nonetheless, he’s been topping declared Democrats in most polling.
Flores hit the airwaves on Sunday to speak about what she expects from men like Biden and the encounter that left her “mortified.”
“I would like him to at least acknowledge that his behavior has an affect on the women that he is touching inappropriately,” she told CNN’s Jake Tapper, Grabien Media reports. “Because it is an inappropriate touching. You know, there is — in no other context is this behavior okay.”
Flores told Tapper that a simple Google search for “creepy uncle Joe or creepy Biden” will expose “endless images” of the former vice president acting inappropriately with females.
“And all it takes is for people to Google, you know, I hate to say it, but this is a term that’s out there that describes him, ‘creepy uncle Joe’ or ‘creepy Biden’ and see what comes up in the Google search. It feels like endless images of him being inappropriate,” she said.
“Ask any man or any person of power in a position if they would go up to a woman that they have no relationship with where they’re in a professional setting and go up to them and touch them and smell them and kiss them,” she added. “Ask them if they would do that and if they think that’s okay. And their answer is always, no, of course not, it’s not okay.”
Last week, shockwaves hit the Biden campaign when Flores recalled a 2014 encounter where the then-vice president allegedly grabbed her shoulders, smelled her hair, and kissed the back of her head.
“Just before the speeches, we were ushered to the side of the stage where we were lined up by order of introduction,” Flores wrote in an acccount published by The Cut. “As I was taking deep breaths and preparing myself to make my case to the crowd, I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze. ‘Why is the vice-president of the United States touching me?'”
“I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified,” the Democrat said. “He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldn’t process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused. … I wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me.”
Flores called the encounter “blatantly inappropriate and unnerving,” adding that he made her feel “uneasy, gross, and confused.”
In the moments leading up to Flores’ CNN interview, Biden released a personal statement concerning the allegations. The political heavyweight maintained his innocence and suggested that his suspect interactions with women were merely “expressions of affection.”
“In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort,” Biden said in a statement reported by NBC News. “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. I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear.”
“But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention,” the statement continued. “And I will.”
Biden flexed his feminist muscles, too, promising to “remain the strongest advocate I can be for the rights of women.”
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