Tag: Lucy Flores

From Joe Biden to the border, it’s been a busy week in American politics. A former Nevada legislator, Lucy Flores, accused former Vice President Joe Biden late last week of inappropriately touching and kissing her during a campaign event in 2014. Mr. Biden scrambled to defend himself and contain the crisis, the first of his possible presidential bid. “I’m not sorry for any of my intentions.” Additional Reading • Who Is Lucy Flores, the Woman Accusing Joe Biden of Kissing Her? • Biden’s Tactile Politics Threaten His Return in the #MeToo Era • Finding Biden in Familiar Fix, President Trump Adds a Jab Trump heads back to the border. On Sunday, White House officials defended Mr. Trump’s threat to end assistance to three Central American countries and to close parts of the border with Mexico, despite evidence showing that smuggling largely takes place at ports of entry. The administration is preparing an economic relief package for Venezuela in the event that President Nicolás Maduro’s government falls. The legislation would provide $200 million in aid for Venezuela and $200 million for neighboring countries taking in Venezuelan refugees. • A manager in the White House’s Personnel Security Office said senior officials granted security clearances to at least 25 people whose applications had been denied by career employees. The White House promised to close the gap.

Last week, the Cut published an essay by Lucy Flores, a former Nevada lieutenant governor nominee, who wrote that Biden smelled her hair and kissed the back of her head at a campaign event in 2014. In the week since, six more women have come forward. Below, here’s a running list of the allegations against Biden. In response to the essay, Biden claimed that he had no memory of having “acted inappropriately,” but added that if he was in the wrong, he would “listen respectfully.” Amy Lappos When Amy Lappos was a congressional aide for U.S. representative Jim Himes in 2009, she claims that Biden touched and rubbed his nose against hers during a political fundraiser. “It wasn’t sexual, but he did grab me by the head,” she told Hartford Courant on April 1. “He put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to rub noses with me. Hill was one of two women to come forward with allegations in the New York Times, which referred to Biden’s conduct as “tactile politics” in a report published on April 2. At a 2012 at a fundraising event in Minneapolis, Hill alleges that Biden rested his hand on her shoulder, and then started to move it down her back, which left her feeling “very uncomfortable.” “Only he knows his intent,” she told the Times, adding, “If something makes you feel uncomfortable, you have to feel able to say it.” Caitlyn Caruso In the same Times report, a woman named Caitlyn Caruso claimed that after sharing the story of her sexual assault at a University of Nevada event in 2016, Biden hugged her “just a little bit too long” and laid his hand on her thigh. It was a moment that soon went viral, and was described then by the Post as “powerful.” But in the Post’s report published this week, Karasek says she believes that Biden violated her personal space. “But again, 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.” Vail Kohnert-Yount In the same Post report, Vail Kohnert-Yount alleged that when she was a White House intern in the spring of 2013, Biden “put his hand on the back of [her] head and pressed his forehead to [her] forehead” when he introduced himself, and that he called her a “pretty girl.” She was “so shocked,” she said, “that it was hard to focus on what he was saying.” Though she told the Post that she doesn’t believe Biden’s conduct constituted sexual misconduct, she described it as “the kind of inappropriate behavior that makes many women feel uncomfortable and unequal in the workplace.” This post will be updated if necessary.

Welcome to On Politics, your guide to the day in national politics. This week, hundreds of readers shared their reactions to the unfolding accusations against Joe Biden by women who said he had kissed or touched them in ways that made them uncomfortable. Many readers defended the former vice president as a product of a different time and questioned if the #MeToo movement had gone too far. Others insisted that making a woman feel uncomfortable has always been wrong. Here is a selection of our readers’ responses, which came from emails sent by On Politics readers, as well as comments across our site. Now I understand in this MeToo movement that there are those who are uncomfortable with such intimate physical expressions. So now that Joe has been called out on it, it is up to him to show his changed behavior if indeed he runs for president, which I hope he does. Early on we baby boomers rejected the stiff formalities of an earlier generation for an easy physicality, an appreciative give-and-take across gender lines that graced daily life with moments of lightness and warmth. When men kiss me on the head or squeeze my shoulders, it does make me uncomfortable. Check out this chart by the Center for Responsive Politics, which compares these numbers to the first quarter fund-raising in 2008, the last time both parties faced such an open race.

USA TODAY In the fifty years I have spent in the company of politicians one of the things that most surprised me was their public physicality, like Joe Biden's. The more radical enforcers of the #MeToo movement are at present cuffing around former Vice-President Joe Biden for an incident that took place in Nevada in 2014. Revealing this in a New York Magazine blogpost, Ms. Flores’s account seemed timed to coincide with the imminent announcement of Biden’s intention to seek the Democratic presidential nomination and, it would appear, calculated to inflict the greatest damage on Biden. Biden’s defenders have rallied to his defense, making the argument that’s “Oh, that’s just Joe Biden”, a politician of inveterate physicality. Geraldine Ferraro was a toucher. There is a very distinct line between a public display of support, sympathy or affection and a transgressive physical invasion of a person’s body, or at least there ought to be. I am now often hugged by other men. I believe that Rep. Flores has misconstrued the actions of Vice President Biden. It was gesture by a man whose humanity happens to express itself in innocent physical contact. Is that less blameworthy than gripping a person’s shoulders in a gesture of support or solidarity?

“He’s an affectionate person, to children, to senior citizens, to everyone, but that’s just not the way.” Over the past week, Biden – who has long been expected to launch a bid to be the Democratic candidate for the presidency in 2020 any time now – has been the subject of damaging news reports after two women accused him of inappropriate behavior towards them. Pelosi said the two allegations of unwelcome contact should not keep Biden from running for the presidency in 2020. “I don’t think it’s disqualifying,” she told the event on Tuesday. The former Nevada lawmaker Lucy Flores described in an essay for the Cut her discomfort when Biden kissed her on the head during a campaign event in 2014. She has since said the episode is disqualifying and that he should not run. Joe Biden's very bad week: has his White House run failed before it begins? Asked on Monday about the accusations against Biden, Pelosi said: “I don’t think that this disqualifies him from running for president, not at all.” But Biden’s potential Democratic rivals haven’t rushed to back him up. Over the weekend, the presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand came closest to calling out the former vice-president. Gillibrand, a New York senator, said, “If vice-president Biden becomes a candidate, this is a topic he’ll have to engage on further.” Ultraviolet, a women’s advocacy group, tweeted: “Joe Biden cannot paint himself as a champion of women and then refuse to listen and learn from a woman who says his actions demeaned her. “Neither the Bernie Sanders campaign nor anyone involved in it, planted, planned, persuaded, cajoled or otherwise urged Lucy Flores or anyone else to tell their story.

The 'Outnumbered' panel debates the response to the claims of unwanted touching by Joe Biden. FOX Business Network (FBN) is a financial news channel delivering real-time information across all platforms that impact both Main Street and Wall Street. Headquartered in…

Former Nevada Assemblywoman Lucy Flores, who is claiming sexual misconduct against former Vice President Joe Biden, explains why her situation is different from other woman who have been pictured in close contact with the former vice president, including Stephanie Carter,…

On Sunday morning, Biden issued a response to Flores’ essay. pic.twitter.com/EbCchX2npU — Bill Russo (@BillR) March 31, 2019 “In many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort,” the statement read. “And not once – never – did I believe I acted inappropriately. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel that they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention, and I will,” the statement continued. Biden has given weak and underwhelming apologies to Hill in public, never taking personal responsibility for the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings she endured, despite his own involvement in them. Biden’s statement ended with an allusion to his history in politics and his work on women’s issues, and affirming his commitment to fight for women. “And I will continue to speak out on these vitally-important issues where there is much more progress to be made and crucial fights that must be waged and won.” On Saturday, Biden’s spokesperson Bill Russo released a statement which seemed to cast doubt on Flores’ account. Of course no one says I was alone with him because I never was alone with him and I have never claimed to have been alone with him,” she said, adding, “I have also stated many times on the record that I am not supporting any candidate right now and I am listening and evaluating all the candidates just like everyone else. Related Did Joe Biden Forget He Was There for the Anita Hill Testimony? An Awkward Kiss Changed How I Saw Joe Biden Joe Biden Isn’t the Answer