White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Sunday that former Vice President Joe Biden “has a big problem” after former Nevada state assemblywoman Lucy Flores (D) accused him of inappropriately touching her and kissing her without her consent.
“And I think Joe Biden has a big problem here because he calls it affection and handshakes. His party calls it completely inappropriate,” Conway said during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”
{mosads}Conway also called Flores “bold” for coming forward with the accusation.
“It’s quite bold for her to go up against the highest levels of her own political party,” Conway said.
Asked about accusations of sexual assault and misconduct that have been brought against President Trump, Conway said the White House has “certainly covered that ad infinitum during the campaign, the transition, practically every day.”
Flores said in an essay published Friday in New York Magazine’s The Cut that Biden touched her shoulders and kissed the back of her head before a Nevada campaign event in 2014.
“As I was taking deep breaths and preparing myself to make my case to the crowd, I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze. ‘Why is the vice-president of the United States touching me?'” she wrote.
“I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified. I thought to myself, ‘I didn’t wash my hair today and the vice-president of the United States is smelling it. And also, what in the actual fuck? Why is the vice-president of the United States smelling my hair?’ He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head,” she added.
Biden said in a statement Sunday that he has “offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort” while on the campaign trail and in public life.
“And not once – never – did I believe I acted inappropriately,” Biden added. “If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention.”