Trump tweets doctored video showing Joe Biden grabbing own shoulders, nuzzling hair
U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted a doctored version of a video statement from former vice president Joe Biden in regards to the allegations made against him by two women who claim he touched them inappropriately.
In the 15-second edited version of the video tweeted by the president Thursday afternoon, Biden can be seen touching his own shoulders and nuzzling his own hair.
“WELCOME BACK JOE!” Trump wrote.
The jab from the president comes a day after Biden posted the original two-minute video statement to Twitter, in response to the unwanted touching allegations.
In the video, Biden vowed to be “more mindful” of personal space after the women said his physical contact made them feel uncomfortable.
“The boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset, and I get it,” Biden said.
“Social norms are changing. I understand that, and I’ve heard what these women are saying. Politics, to me, has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future,” Biden said in a Twitter message attached to the video. “That’s my responsibility and I will meet it.”
However, Biden’s video fell flat for one of the women who accused him of unwanted touching.
In a statement Wednesday afternoon, former Nevada state representative Lucy Flores, who accused Biden of planting a “big slow kiss” on the back of her head at a rally in Nevada in 2014, posted a statement on Twitter in response to his video, which stopped short of an apology.
“I’m glad Vice President Joe Biden acknowledges that he made women feel uncomfortable with his unsolicited gestures of encouragement. Given the work he has done on behalf of women, Vice President Biden should be aware of how important it is to take personal responsibility for inappropriate behavior, and yet he hasn’t apologized to the women he made uncomfortable,” Flores wrote.
“Times are changing yes, but not because once appropriate behavior is now inappropriate, but because women feel empowered to call it what it has always been — a violation of our bodily autonomy by powerful men.”
Biden’s video was posted days after a second woman, former congressional aide, Amy Lappos, said he rubbed noses with her and touched her inappropriately at a political fundraiser a decade ago.
“It wasn’t sexual, but he did grab me by the head,” Lappos told the Hartford Courant on Monday.
“He put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to rub noses with me. When he was pulling me in, I thought he was going to kiss me on the mouth.”
Biden, who is considering running for president in 2020, has denied acting inappropriately towards women.
— With files from Kerri Breen and Reuters
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