“I’m sorry I didn’t understand more,” he told reporters about his hugs and kisses to women over the years. “I’m not sorry for any of my intentions. I’m not sorry for anything that I have ever done. I’ve never been disrespectful intentionally to a man or a woman.”
Speaking at an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers conference in Washington, the former vice president used his first public remarks since the complaints emerged to try to push past the controversy that overtook his expected presidential campaign in the past week.
In his address, he largely stuck to his long-running political themes, highlighting the importance of uniting a divided nation and restoring the “great American middle class” — save for two notable asides.
As he took the stage, he hugged Lonnie R. Stephenson, the union’s president. “I just want you to know I had permission to hug Lonnie,” he said, and the largely male crowd burst into laughter.
The joke came as Biden was fending off criticism from some Democrats who worry that the 76-year-old is out of step with the party’s mores around gender and race. In recent days, he has struggled to address accusations from women that his hugs, kisses and other expressions of his physically intimate style of politicking were unwelcome.
Even as Biden sought to move past the complaints, they were plainly on his mind.
Several minutes into his remarks, Biden spotted children in the audience. After welcoming them to the stage, Biden wrapped his arm around a young boy. “By the way, he gave me permission to touch him,” he said, to laughter.
“Everyone knows I like kids more than people,” he added.
He used the bulk of his speech to critique economic inequality and partisanship, offering an argument for American renewal that could form the basis of his possible presidential campaign. He also leveled a full-throated indictment of President Donald Trump, perhaps previewing the opening salvo of a third presidential bid.
“This country was not built by Wall Street bankers and hedge fund managers,” he said. “It was built by the great American middle class.”
The union conference offered a friendly and comfortable setting for Biden, but one that represented only one element of an increasingly diverse Democratic Party base. Biden proclaimed he felt at home with the crowd, liberally sprinkling his comments with the mild profanity that he often deploys at political rallies.
“We’ve gotten so damn sophisticated. We’ve gotten so damn elitist,” he said. “I hate the way things have changed over the last 15 to 20 years.”
Biden is widely expected to announce his presidential bid in the coming weeks. Some Democrats view the former vice president, with his decades of legislative experience and a folksy, blue-collar political brand, as potentially the most formidable challenger to Trump. Biden leads in most early polling of the race for the Democratic nomination.
But others fear that Biden, who would enter the White House as the oldest president in U.S. history, and his team are unprepared to deal effectively with the political pitfalls posed by his decadeslong legislative record and old-fashioned style. Biden was slow to respond personally to the furor surrounding the new complaints, leaving much of the response to statements issued by aides and supporters.
The appearance before the union was opened to the media shortly after Biden released an online video Wednesday, in which he tried to explain his approach to “connecting” with people over the years. He has described himself as a “tactile politician” who tries to comfort people with hugs, kisses and touches on the shoulder when they appear nervous or upset.
In the seemingly homemade two-minute video, Biden promised to “be more mindful and respectful of people’s personal space” in the future. Reaction to his comments was divided, with critics questioning the lack of a clear apology for his behavior and supporters praising his willingness to address the issue.
Trump taunted Biden about the allegations Thursday, tweeting a 15-second video that mocked Biden, accompanied by the text “WELCOME BACK JOE!” With his remark, the president seemed to be practically inviting a re-examination of his own record with women, including multiple claims of sexual harassment and the “Access Hollywood” tape that nearly derailed his 2016 campaign.
While Biden fashions himself as a fierce defender of women’s rights, frequently citing his work as the architect of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, he has already faced obstacles in his efforts to win over female Democrats as he prepares for the possibility of a third presidential bid. Women are expected to make up a majority of voters in the Democratic primary, which includes six female candidates.
Recent comments that he wished he “could have done something” to treat Anita Hill’s claims of sexual harassment with more respect during the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Justice Clarence Thomas in 1991 drew fierce backlash from critics, who pointed out that Biden had been chairman of the Senate committee that questioned Hill. His shifting position on abortion rights over his 36 years in the Senate has also drawn fresh scrutiny.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.