Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, in his first televised interview after announcing his campaign Thursday, defended his actions around women, while admitting that he has to be more "cognizant" of the meaning of personal space.
"We all have to be," the former vice president told ABC's "The View." "A woman or a man, especially a woman, has the right to say 'this is my space.' I think it's important we listen. I think it's important elected officials listen and understand what people are going through and understand. I don't think it's old-fashioned. Everybody should be doing that."
After complaints surfaced from several women who said Biden had made them feel uncomfortable, he said he's realized he needs to be more careful, "including whether I sit down next to somebody and I was not invited to sit down. That's my responsibility."
However, he told the show's panel that he does not think anyone has ever said he invaded their space "in a way that was designed to do something other than making them feel uncomfortable, but not anything having to do with harassment."
Biden, though, said while he would say he's sorry that he may have invaded people's space, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has suggested he do, he's not sorry in the sense that he did "anything that was intentionally designed to do anything wrong or be inappropriate. It was inappropriate that I didn't understand."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.