Joe Biden and the #MeToo Generation Gap

From The Rolling Stones:

Last week, Lucy Flores, a Democractic lawmaker from Nevada, penned an op-ed for the Cutclaiming that former vice president Joe Biden had touched her inappropriately while she was campaigning for lieutenant governor. Flores wrote that Biden approached her from behind and smelled her hair before kissing her on the back of the head.

Shortly thereafter (as we have come to expect with these cases), a woman named Amy Lappos chimed in, telling the Hartford Courant that Biden had rubbed noses with her at a 2009 fundraiser.

Since then, two other women have come forward with allegations of inappropriate touching from Biden, including a 22-year-old woman who claims Biden rubbed her thigh and gave her a lingering hug after she told him about her experience as a sexual assault survivor.

To be clear, the women leveling these allegations against Biden are not accusing him of illegal or even borderline abusive behavior.

As Tessa Stuart wrote for Rolling Stone about Flores and Lappos, “neither woman is accusing him of a crime — they’re engaging prospective voters in a broader conversation about what constitutes appropriate and acceptable behavior. (In response, Biden has issued a statement saying that while he believes he is not guilty of inappropriate behavior, he will “listen respectfully” to women’s claims.)

Read more here.