It hasn't been a great week for potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The former vice president, who has yet to formally announce that he's launching a campaign for the Oval Office, faced scrutiny on Friday for reportedly kissing a former Nevada assemblywoman without her permission.
Lucy Flores, who was campaigning to be Nevada's lieutenant governor at the time wrote about the experience for The Cut. Biden's camp said that he did not remember the incident, but they also acknowledged the allegations should be taken seriously. A Politico report notes that Biden and those involved with his possible campaign were surprised by Flores' account. One of Biden's advisers, Cristobal Alex, said he felt "sucker-punched" by the revelation.
"Neither then, nor in the years since, did he or the staff with him at the time have an inkling that Ms. Flores had been at any time uncomfortable," Biden's spokesman, Bill Russo, wrote in a statement. "Nor do they recall what she describes."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
However, Rebecca Katz, a progressive consultant who advised Cynthia Nixon's gubernatorial primary campaign against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), said there is plenty of evidence beyond Flores' account that back her up. "There's literally highlight reels of Biden, whether it's with world leaders or granddaughters of incoming members of Congress, doing things that seem a little off — on camera," she told Politico.
For example, there is a captured image of Biden burying his nose in the hair of actress and activist Eva Longoria at the very event where Flores said Biden kissed her.
Katz told Politico that Biden's record is simply at odds with where the Democratic Party is right now. "Primaries are tough," she said. "When you're this old and running for president, you have a pretty long record for people to go through." Read more about Biden's potential candidacy at The Week.
-
The UK’s ‘wallaby boom’Under the Radar The Australian marsupial has ‘colonised’ the Isle of Man and is now making regular appearances on the UK mainland
-
Fast food is no longer affordable to low-income AmericansThe explainer Cheap meals are getting farther out of reach
-
‘The money to fix this problem already exists’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
-
Trump pivots on Epstein vote amid GOP defectionsSpeed Read The president said House Republicans should vote on a forced release of the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
