Senator Dianne Feinstein of California says that former Vice President Joe Biden is a ‘warm, tactile person’ who ‘reaches out and he touches’ in a way that is ‘hardly sexy.’
The California Democrat defended Biden as senior party officials try to grapple with the fallout from accusations made by four women who say the former vice president made them feel uncomfortable with unwanted touching.
‘It's a new thing that people have been affronted by it,’ the 85-year-old senator said.
‘Over 25 years I've never seen that before.’
While Feinstein defended Biden, other female Democratic senators were more critical.
Senator Dianne Feinstein (left), the Democrat from California, defended former Vice President Joe Biden (right) after he was accused of unwanted touching by four women
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the Democrat from New York, told Politico: ‘Lucy Flores felt demeaned and that’s never OK.
‘And if Vice President Biden decides to run for president this is something he’s going to have to address directly with the American people.’
Flores, a former Nevada politician, penned a magazine essay last week in which she wrote that Biden kissed her on the back of the head in 2014.
Amy Lappos, a former aide to Democratic Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, said Monday that Biden touched her face with both hands and rubbed noses in 2009.
Two more women came forward on Tuesday.
Caitlyn Caruso, 22, said she met Biden at an event devoted to sexual assault at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, where she studied as an undergrad.
Caruso, who was 19 years old at the time, said that Biden placed his hand on her thigh while she squirmed in her seat to show how uncomfortable she was, according to The New York Times.
She said Biden then gave her a hug and held it ‘just a little bit too long.’
Caruso told the Times that she was startled at Biden’s behavior because she had just told the audience of her own experience as a sexual assault survivor.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the Democrat from New York, told Politico : ‘Lucy Flores felt demeaned and that’s never OK. ‘And if Vice President Biden decides to run for president this is something he’s going to have to address directly with the American people.’
D.J. Hill, 59, a writer who attended a fundraiser in Minneapolis in 2012, said Biden made her feel ‘very uncomfortable’ by running his hand down her back.
Gillibrand and her Democratic colleagues have so far refrained from saying that the accusations should disqualify Biden from seeking the presidency.
While Biden has yet to officially announce a run for the White House, it has been widely expected for some time.
It was initially thought that Biden would have the easiest time in securing the support of Democratic senators.
But the spate of allegations has complicated matters.
‘All of us, including the vice president, need to continue to work on changing our culture,' said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (left). Sen. Mazie Hirono (right) said: ‘The focus isn't on what his intentions were, it is how his behavior is experienced and one should not invade personal space'
‘There’s a failure to understand how one’s actions impact others,’ Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin said of Biden.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, said: ‘I was surprised by the allegation.
‘It is clear that Lucy Flores felt it was inappropriate.
‘It took courage for her to come forward and share her story, and I am glad she did.
‘All of us, including the vice president, need to continue to work on changing our culture.’
Senator Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, said: ‘The focus isn't on what his intentions were, it is how his behavior is experienced and one should not invade personal space.
‘He needs to be a lot more aware of that.
‘I would say with Trump it's many, many degrees of worseness if there is such a word.’
Caitlyn Caruso, a survivor of sexual assault, says Joe Biden placed his hand on her thigh and hugged her 'just a little bit too long' at an event at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas on April 7, 2016
Biden was a guest at the university, which hosted the event to discuss sexual assault
Lady Gaga performed at that same event. She is seen above getting a kiss on the cheek from the then-vice president
Senator Chris Coons of Delaware defended Biden, saying: ‘I’m confident he’s going to run and that Joe Biden is someone who hugs people and encourages people and is incredibly engaged with people is I think a pretty well-known feature of his personality.’
An image of Biden in which he appears to grab the arm of his teenage daughter during Coons’s swearing-in ceremony in 2015 has been scrutinized in the wake of the allegations of unwanted touching.
Lucy Flores claimed Biden grabbed her shoulders and kissed her head while campaigning during her in 2014
Coons dismissed any suggestion that Biden behaved inappropriately toward his daughter.
‘She doesn’t think there’s anything inappropriate or unkind or in anyway unusual,’ the senator said.
‘And he was simply trying to encourage her in a moment that would be tough for any teenager, to have a bank of 50 TV and print cameras.’
Joe Manchin, the Democratic senator from West Virginia, said attacks on Biden were ‘totally wrong.’
‘If you’re looking for him to have his hand on shoulders there might be a lot of them,’ Manchin said.
