Biden Defends His Behavior with Women

Former Vice President Joe Biden says he doesn't believe he ever acted inappropriately toward women but will "listen respectfully" to suggestions he did.

Biden, who is deciding whether to join the 2020 presidential race, faces allegations from a Nevada political candidate that he kissed her on the back of the head in 2014 and made her uncomfortable.

In a new statement released Sunday, Biden says: "In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once — never — did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention."

The allegation was made by Lucy Flores, a former Nevada state representative and the 2014 Democratic nominee for Nevada lieutenant governor.

Flores, a then-35-year-old Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor in Nevada, on Friday wrote a detailed account of what she said was unwanted touching by then-Vice President Biden at a 2014 event where he was campaigning on her behalf.

"As I was taking deep breaths and preparing myself to make my case to the crowd, I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze," Flores writes at the website The Cut. "Why is the vice-president of the United States touching me?"

"I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified," she continued. "Biden was the second-most powerful man in the country and, arguably, one of the most powerful men in the world. He was there to promote me as the right person for the lieutenant governor job. Instead, he made me feel uneasy, gross, and confused. The vice-president of the United States of America had just touched me in an intimate way reserved for close friends, family, or romantic partners — and I felt powerless to do anything about it."

Biden then, Flores writes "proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldn’t process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused. There is a Spanish saying, “tragame tierra,” it means, “earth, swallow me whole.” I couldn’t move and I couldn’t say anything. I wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me. My name was called and I was never happier to get on stage in front of an audience."

Kyle Smith, writing at National Review Online's "Corner Blog," noted that though there "is much photographic evidence of him crossing the line with women," the mainstream media "never before had any incentive to hold Biden up to scrutiny."

Biden likely will still seek the Democratic nomination in 2020, Smith said, but added "his 2020 candidacy will perish as quickly as his previous presidential campaigns. The Democratic candidate with the best chance of beating President Trump is doomed."

Material from Newsmax staff writers was added to this account.