Former Vice President Joe Biden has come under fire recently for inappropriate behavior, which led him to release a video to tell people he “will be more mindful of personal space in the future.”
Just hours after the release, The Washington Post reported that three more women came forward “about encounters with him that made them feel uncomfortable.” That makes the total seven women.
Professor Jacobson noted that even though Biden said that social norms have changed, these accusations have come from his time as vice president.
Here are the three new women:
Vail Kohnert-Yount, a White House intern, in 2013.
Kohnert-Yount told WaPo that one day in 2013, as she tried to leave the West Wing basement, she moved aside for Biden. He extended his hand and introduced himself:
“He then put his hand on the back of my head and pressed his forehead to my forehead while he talked to me. I was so shocked that it was hard to focus on what he was saying. I remember he told me I was a ‘pretty girl,’ ” Kohnert-Yount said in a statement to The Post.
She described feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed that Biden had commented on her appearance in a professional setting, “even though it was intended as a compliment.”
“I do not consider my experience to have been sexual assault or harassment,” she stated, adding that she believes Biden’s intentions were good. “But it was the kind of inappropriate behavior that makes many women feel uncomfortable and unequal in the workplace.”
Sofia Karasek, a sexual assault survivor, had an incident with Biden in 2016.
Karasek went on stage with Lady Gaga at the Oscars in 2016, along with 50 other sexual assault victims. Biden introduced Gaga:
Karasek said as she met Biden after the ceremony, she was thinking about a college student who had been sexually assaulted and recently died by suicide. She decided to share the story with the then-vice president, and Biden responded by clasping her hands and leaning down to place his forehead against hers, a moment captured in a widely circulated photograph.
Karasek said she appreciated Biden’s support but also felt awkward and uncomfortable that his gesture had left their faces suddenly inches apart. She said she did not know how to respond to, as she described it, Biden crossing the boundary into her personal space at a sensitive moment.
Ally Coll, young Democratic staffer, in 2008.
Coll met Biden at a reception in 2008. She met him when he entered the room:
She said she was then introduced to Biden, who she said leaned in, squeezed her shoulders and delivered a compliment about her smile, holding her “for a beat too long.”
Coll, who runs the Purple Campaign, a nonprofit group that fights sexual harassment, said she felt nervous and excited about meeting Biden at the time and shrugged off feelings of discomfort. She says now that she felt his alleged behavior was out of place and inappropriate in the context of a work situation.
“There’s been a lack of understanding about the way that power can turn something that might seem innocuous into something that can make somebody feel uncomfortable,” said Coll, who consults with companies about their workplace policies.
Reaction to Biden’s Video
All three women didn’t approve of Biden’s video.
Kohnert-Yount told WaPo that she appreciates “his attempt to do better in the future, but to me this is not mainly about whether Joe Biden has adequate respect for personal space. It’s about women deserving equal respect in the workplace.”
Karasek expressed disappointment in the video because he did not “take ownership in the way he needed to.” She reminded Biden that “all of our interactions and friendships are a two-way street. . . . Too often it doesn’t matter how the woman feels about it or they just assume that they’re fine with it.”
Coll explained that the video showed “a continued lack of understanding about why these stories are being told and their relevance in the #MeToo era.”
Will He Run for President?
Isn’t it weird how everyone is now talking about these uncomfortable experiences when Biden is expected to announce any day now that he will run for president?
Biden has led the polls, even though he has not announced, with Sen. Bernie Sanders a close second. Everyone else has numbers nowhere near those two men. The Democrats love diversity and something tells me they don’t want an old white man as their nominee.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said the accusations against Biden don’t disqualify him from running for president, but urged him to understand communication:
“I think that it’s important for the vice president and others to understand that it isn’t what you intended; it’s how it was received,” Pelosi said at Tuesday morning at an event in Washington.
The speaker also challenged Biden’s response to the controversy on Sunday, when he stated that he never intended to act inappropriately but “if it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully.”
“To say, ‘I’m sorry that you were offended’ is not an apology,” Pelosi said. “That’s not accepting the fact that people think differently about communication, whether it’s a handshake, a hug. . . . He has to understand in the world that we’re in now that people’s space is important to them, and what’s important is how they receive it, not necessarily how you intended it.”
I think he will still run. After all, the Democrats still love President Bill Clinton.
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“But, but, I’m a Democrat. This isn’t supposa happen to me.”
Joe’s handsie routine may be one of the very few things both liberals and conservatives can agree about, albeit probably for different reasons.
So, who’s that leave to vote for him?
I agree – Biden will run. He will do what William Jefferson Clinton, Northam and Fairfax did and ignore calls to step aside. Rules and laws do not apply to Democrats, and Biden knows it.
What really disqualifies Biden from getting the nomination is (1) he is white, (2) hetero, and (3) male. Those reasons, and not his groping, are why Biden won’t be the Democrat presidential nominee.
He sure is in a lot of trouble, even without striking any homeruns.
Are the Dems seeing and understanding the error of their ways?
How’s that due process working out, Joe?
#BelieveAllWomenWhoSupportBernieSanders
Actually, I don’t give a rat’s booty about Joe being a creepy groper any more than I care about Trump bragging on video that women will let him grab them by the wingding.
Biden was Obama’ VP, and that’s reason enough for me to oppose Biden as potus.
I just know that I am going to get in trouble for this, but I’m going there anyway.
Joe Biden physically dominates women and thinks nothing of it. Donald Trump notes that women will allow a powerful man to grope them. Arnold Schwarzenegger, when responding to report that he groped women in Hollywood in the 1970s, says that he does not recall any of them complaining. And, Harvey Weinstein sees nothing wrong in using his power and position to demand and receive sexual favors from any woman he desires. And, in virtually all of these cases, the women involved go along with it, without public complaint. Why? Because it is difficult to fight a million years of human evolution.
Human beings practice intra-group dominance constantly. We establish hierarchies and operate within them. And we submit to those in positions of power above us. It is our nature. No one strives to be at the bottom of the pyramid.
What people in positions of dominance do, is display that dominance. Men tend to do it physically, as that is their nature. Women tend to do it emotionally or through surrogates. But, the human species is also territorial. And, we are never more territorial than where members of the opposite sex, with whom we are intimate, are concerned. What society tries to do is to set standards of behavior which reduce the friction created by territorial invasions. Men are discouraged from touching women, with whom they do not share an intimate relationship, in an intimate or domineering manner. And, women are discouraged from allowing this to happen. Men are subject to accepted physical reprisal and women to social ostracizing, though physical reprisals have been allowed in the past, in our society, and are currently allowed in other societies.
In the case of Biden, Weinstein and other powerful figures in our society, these safeguards have broken down. They were effectively ignored. These people, and many, many others, were allowed to continue their anti-social behavior, without comment. However, the bulk of American society still adheres to older societal norms and finds such behavior offensive. Such groups as the #MeToo movement have been able to tap into these preexisting societal norms and weaponize it for use against their enemies or to increase their own power, in society.
The important thing to understand is that a person who ignores small social norms, such as those governing intimate touching, especially in public, are probably not adhering to more important societal prohibitions such as those against theft and doing harm to others. This should directly influence how much one trusts another person.
I also think that people go along with it because they get something out of the relationship. One might tolerate abuse from a superior if it means that the superior goes up the food chain and brings those below him along. This is pretty much the rule in every Hollywood entourage. And this is why people take their own crew along when advancing. They don’t have to train a new group to be subservient.
What bothers me, especially with Weinstein, is that the accusers acted all innocent. They knew exactly what they were getting in return, and it was after-the-fact that they figured out that they had whored themselves out for career advancement. As JR Ewing put it decades ago: “once you lose your integrity, the rest is simple.” If anyone should have a legitimate gripe here, it should be the actors who weren’t given the same opportunities to advance. They were the ones who were discriminated against by not being invited to the casting couch. Or maybe they were, and their integrity prevented it from going further.
“Joe Biden physically dominates women and thinks nothing of it. Donald Trump notes that women will allow a powerful man to grope them. Arnold Schwarzenegger, when responding to report that he groped women in Hollywood in the 1970s, says that he does not recall any of them complaining. And, Harvey Weinstein sees nothing wrong in using his power and position to demand and receive sexual favors from any woman he desires.
First off, one of these is not like the others. Can you spot it? Trump was saying that is what women would let him get away with – in a private conversation even. The other three went out and DID it serially.
The rest of your points about dominance have some validity, but most people understand the difference in the lines and do not go about practicing these things. What Biden has been doing is not normal. Never has been for anyone no matter what age they grew up in.
well said
I thought that Biden was chosen as VP because he was an older white guy who already had some groping issues. Some people thought he had the foreign issues cred to back up Obama’s perceived amateur status. But, perhaps many saw Biden as being so dumb and full of gaffes & gropes that he was Obama’s insurance policy against any assassination attempts.
The key criteria will be if Biden stops the touching & smelling. If he is careful, then he has a chance. If he doesn’t learn, then he is toast.
“I think he will still run. After all, the Democrats still love President Bill Clinton.”
Biden isn’t one of the chosen, which is why these attacks are occurring. Possibly he runs, but he will be subject to a continuing escalation of attacks until he is out.
Personally I think these attacks are preemptive and he will end up slinking off the stage.
Building the Biden family fortune through foreign favors from China and the Ukraine is going to hurt him. He’s not as adept as the Clintons at selling favors, but his family has still profited nicely. But some in the media will cover it, while others will ignore it. This along with his creepy behavior toward women of all ages will be enough to take him out of top position. The crazy Dems will go with Bernie, Beto or Kamala.
In true Beta fashion, O’Rourke is in it for the VP slot. The Dims will count on him being able to move Texas to their column.
Biden would be better suited to working at one of those buy-here/pay-here used auto sales places and doing repo work on the weekends.
It’s a simple shot across the bows. The Democrats are no longer a party for old white men. They warned him with the first, he just didn’t listen.
How badly does he need the political immunity from prosecution that comes with running for president? I suspect that he and his son are not going to come out looking too clean once those investigation get going. It’s not just the Ukraine affair. China is also in the mix and who knows what else.
Yeah, pressing the flesh has been a long tradition, along with the old, two hand shake, the concerned arm on the shoulder shake, a quick hug and a peck.
But it was never normal for an old guy to stand behind women, hold their shoulders, rub against them, dig their big nose into her hair, nuzzle around, kiss the head, give shoulder rubs, etc,etc. Nor to swim in the nude with people (women or men) forced to watch you, watch you get out and dry off. Never has been normal, quit trying to normalize Joe.
It’s his groping and pawing and sniffing of pre-teen and tweenie girls with their fathers standing by smiling that sickens me.
I remember when it happened and I STILL want to slap the shit out of Chris Coons for allowing his young daughter to be made to feel so uncomfortable and pulling away when Gropin’ Joe was making his moves on her.