Beloved former Vice President of the United States under President Barack Obama, Joe Biden, has been looked upon by the democratic party as a strong potential candidate for the 2020 Presidential election. From his sense of humor to his close friendship with President Obama, America has fallen in love with the idea of returning to an Obama-esque era with Biden returning to office. The recent, and frequent, allegations of sexual assault against GOP members like Donald Trump and Roy Moore. However, sexual assault is not just a GOP issue. It has become the issue of all men in positions of power, regardless of party, who use their position to make inexcusable, harassing advances. Despite his charisma and likability, there have been several accounts of Joe Biden making inappropriate sexual advances towards the women he comes in contact with. Twitter user Richard Armande Mills created a thread documenting the many instances of Joe Biden publicly taking advantage of women during his career.
It's time to talk about former Vice President Joe Biden, the open sexual predator. A thread/moment…
— RAM (Richard Armande Mills) (@RAMRANTS) November 13, 2017
A viral video in 2015 showed Joe Biden grab and whisper in the ear of Maggie Coons, the adolescent daughter of Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and then attempt to kiss her on the cheek. While looking at the footage, Maggie Coons is visibly uncomfortable and pulls away as he tries to kiss her. Although her father later announced to the media that his daughter was not creeped out by Joe Biden’s advances, it is hard to tell based on the video if this announcement was simply a political tactic.
During the swearing in ceremony of Defense Secretary Ash Carter, Biden can be seen with his hands wrapped around Stephanie Carter, Ash Carter’s wife, and whispering in her ear. It seems as though Joe Biden has a thing about whispering in the ears of women, very publicly. Although simply whispering in someone’s ear isn’t always sexual assault, his mannerisms are questionable.
More recently, Joe Biden was shown in a six-second video kissing Morgan State University graduate, Brieana Carter, on the cheek as a sentiment of “congratulations”. Although Carter has not come forward to indicate that she felt violated in this situation, it definitely raised eyebrows from the rest of the internet.
Despite making unwarranted sexual advances towards numerous women, Joe Biden appeared in a sexual violence PSA with Lady Gaga in a campaign for “It’s On Us”, an advocacy organization started by Biden and Obama in 2014 that aims to end sexual assault and raise awareness for victims.
A message from me & my buddy Vice President @JoeBiden @ItsOnUs to stop sexual assault. Go to https://t.co/aMd5silSst #ItsOnUs to help. ?? pic.twitter.com/w5JGRCd2z8
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) October 25, 2017
Joe Biden has also spoken out against sexual assault at college campuses to encourage consent and to advocate for victims of sexual assault. In October, Biden spoke at Rutgers University in New Jersey regarding his campaign with “It’s On Us”. His actions and his words seem to constantly contradict themselves. Joe Biden needs be cautious of his actions and make sure he is not violating the personal space of women if he wants to identify as an advocate against sexual assault. Men in power cannot identify as feminists and advocates as a political tactic and expect to get away with it.
Image Source: NYMag
