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The Latest: Democrats wonder if Biden out of step with party

FILE - In this Feb. 19, 2019, file photo, former Vice President Joe Biden reacts as he talks with University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann at the university's Irvine Auditorium in Philadelphia. Biden on Sunday, March 31, defended his interactions with women, saying he doesn't believe he's ever acted inappropriately. But a Nevada politician's assertion that Biden's kiss on the back of her head made her feel uncomfortable prompted some Democrats to question whether the 76-year-old is too out of step with his own party to run a successful 2020 presidential campaign. (Tim Tai/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP, File)
Original Publication Date March 31, 2019 - 6:56 AM

WASHINGTON - The Latest on former Vice-President Joe Biden (all times local):

4:20 p.m.

Former Vice-President Joe Biden is defending his interactions with women, saying he doesn't believe he's ever acted inappropriately.

But a Nevada politician's assertion that Biden's kiss on the back of her head in 2014 made her feel uncomfortable has prompted some Democrats to question whether the 76-year-old is too out of step with his own party to run a successful 2020 presidential campaign.

In a statement on Sunday, Biden said it was never his intention to make women feel discomfort. The woman, Lucy Flores, wrote about the encounter for New York Magazine.

Flores tells The Associated Press that she had been mulling coming forward for years. She says the tipping point for her was Biden's meeting in March with 2018 Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams.

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9:45 a.m.

White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway is criticizing former Vice-President Joe Biden after a former Nevada state legislator alleged he inappropriately kissed her on the back of her head in 2014.

Conway described the woman, Lucy Flores, as "quite bold" to "go against the highest levels of her political party" with the allegations and said Biden now has a "big problem." Biden, a Democrat, is considering running for president in 2020.

Conway tells "Fox News Sunday" that quote, "He calls it affection and handshakes. His party calls it completely inappropriate."

Conway suggested that Biden should consider apologizing to Flores.

Flores, who was Nevada's Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2014, wrote in New York Magazine that she felt uncomfortable with her interactions with Biden.

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9:30 a.m.

Former Vice-President Joe Biden says he doesn't believe he ever acted inappropriately toward women but will "listen respectfully" to suggestions he did.

Biden, who is deciding whether to join the 2020 presidential race, faces allegations from a Nevada political candidate that he kissed her on the back of the head in 2014 and made her uncomfortable.

In a new statement released Sunday, Biden says: "In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once — never — did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention."

The allegation was made by Lucy Flores, a former Nevada state representative and the 2014 Democratic nominee for Nevada lieutenant governor.

News from © The Associated Press, 2019
The Associated Press

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