Are we overlooking the big picture?
For the 2020 presidential election there are currently 18 Democratic candidates running. At the forefront of this crowded election pool many people look to former Vice President Joe Biden as one of the leaders. That being said however, while many hopeful Democrats look to Biden as a change for the future, there seems to be one rather big problem. While you could describe Biden as many things, overwhelmingly many women are describing Joe Biden as being just a little too handsy… In 2014, at a campaign event for the race for Nevada lieutenant governor, then 35-year-old woman Lucy Flores describes her encounter with Biden to The Cut Magazine as leaving her feeling “uneasy, gross, and confused.”
She describes then Vice President Biden inhaling the smell of her hair and planting a kiss on the back of her head. Amy Lappos of Connecticut, described to the Hartford Courant an encounter in 2009 where she said, “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.” It should be noted however that she also said, “It wasn’t sexual, but he did grab me by the head.” While no one has actually accused Joe Biden of sexual misconduct yet, just a general feeling of ‘icky’ after his presence, this could be a huge talking point in the 2020 presidential debates. After all this is the post Me Too movement, where men and women alike are and should be hyper aware of how they interact with each other.
But if it comes down to just twpo presidential candidates, the incumbent Donald Trump, and Joe Biden, would Trump really have a leg to stand on if his main arguing point against Biden was, he makes women feel uncomfortable? While by no means am I condoning Joe Biden’s odd behavior with women, we cannot turn a blind eye to the stats against Donald Trump, and his inherent misogyny. How could anyone forget that the infamous “grab ‘em by the pussy” quote from the recordings with Access Hollywood host Billy Bush. Or when he called his former porn star mistress Stormy Daniels “Horseface” on Twitter.
He has constantly gone after Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren for her claimed Native American Heritage, however at an appearance in Montana in the summer of 2018 when poking fun at Warren again, he stated, “but we have to do it gently because we’re in the #MeToo generation.” So, while we ask ourselves, is Joe Biden fit to be our president? Regardless of your political viewings if you are basing it off of his “Uncle Joe” persona, then you must consider whatever you’d like to call Donald Trump, his many attacks on women and womanhood.
