“In my career, I’ve always tried to make a human connection — that’s my responsibility I think,” Biden said in a video posted to his Twitter feed. “I shake hands; I hug people; I grab men and women by the shoulders and say, ‘You can do this.’ ”
But he added: “Social norms have begun to change; they’ve shifted, and the boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset, and I get it. I get it. I hear what they’re saying.”
The video was his campaign’s fourth attempt to quell a rising tide of allegations from women who said they felt uncomfortable with the way Biden had interacted with them in the past.
And it was a sign that Biden’s advisers were aware they had to do more than they have in the five days since a former Nevada assemblywoman, Lucy Flores, published an essay in which she described Biden touching her inappropriately and kissing her on the head in 2014, when he was vice president. On Tuesday, two more women told The New York Times that the former vice president’s touches made them uncomfortable.
Biden’s aides said that after listening to the women who have criticized him, as well as many other female friends, family members and advisers, he indicated he wanted to address the matter directly. They said the former vice president paid particular attention to the comments of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when she said Tuesday that “people’s space is important to them, and what’s important is how they receive it and not necessarily how you intended it.”
Biden’s campaign-in-waiting has not ruled out the possibility of a TV interview, but advisers indicated he was more likely to address reporters when he delivers a speech to a union conference Friday in Washington.
Biden is widely expected to join the Democratic presidential race this month. He began his video in a manner that suggested his entry in the race is just a matter of time: “Folks,” he said, “in the coming month I expect to be talking to you about a whole lot of issues, and I’ll always be direct with you.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.