More than a few women have come forward over the last week or so to say former Vice President Joe Biden’s affectionate behavior made them uncomfortable. The Delaware Democrat responded on Wednesday with a video message vowing to change his behavior and be “more mindful about respecting personal space in the future.”
Assuming Biden moves forward with his apparent interest in the 2020 presidential race, the issue will almost certainly be an important topic of discussion with serious consequences. Donald Trump doesn’t appear ready for that discussion.
President Trump, ignoring his own troubled history with women and bragging about sexual misconduct, went after Joseph R. Biden Jr. via Twitter on Thursday, posting a video that mocked the former vice president for his handsy approach to politicking.
The 15-second clip tweeted Thursday by Mr. Trump — accompanied by the text, “WELCOME BACK JOE!” — doctored a homemade video that Mr. Biden had released the day before, in which the former vice president addressed his history of physical contact with women, some of whom have come forward in recent weeks to say his intimate behavior made them uncomfortable.
As Mr. Biden speaks to the camera, a pair of hands appears on his shoulders, and then a cartoonish image of Mr. Biden’s head pops up from behind a couch and intimately nuzzles the back of the former vice president’s head.
The president “pinned” the tweet, so anyone going to his Twitter page would see it first, even after other tweets were published.
Asked by a reporter this morning whether he’s the best messenger to go after the former vice president, Trump replied, “Yeah, I think I’m a very good messenger and people got a kick out of it.”
I’m not sure who these “people” are. I’m even less sure Trump fully appreciates his lack of credibility on the matter.
Biden stands accused of having made a variety of women uncomfortable with his affection, which raises questions about propriety, judgment, and possible condescension. To date, however, there’s been no suggestion that the former president harassed or abused anyone.
Trump, meanwhile, has been accused of even more dramatic misdeeds toward women, including sexual abuse, which was he recorded bragging about. One of the women whom Trump allegedly groped is currently suing the president, and efforts to make the case go away have, at least so far, failed. What’s more, this is just part of a larger controversy. Trump has also publicly mocked and belittled women in ugly and demeaning ways, while also nominating men accused of misconduct toward women to powerful government posts. None of this is intended to suggest that Biden’s controversy is somehow trivial. It’s not. Rather, the point is that the Republican president has convinced himself that he’s in a credible position to ridicule others accused of mistreating women. That’s only true if one overlooks everything we know about Trump and his record.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
