Yesterday was April Fools day, and we had some fun with the news because of it. Our joke article on Joe Biden pointed out a potential problem for presidential hopeful Joe Biden, though; he’s a huge creep. He’s not sexually assaulting anyone, but he’s just so weird and creepy with women.
When I was a White House intern, Joe Biden put his hands on my head and touched his forehead to my forehead. I’ve always told it like a funny story, even though it was…weird. @LucyFlores explains—so bravely & perfectly—why this conduct is inappropriate. https://t.co/bRJMPL3O8H
— Vail Kohnert-Yount (she/her) (@vailkoyo) March 29, 2019
Writer Andi Zeisler pointed out one of the many things wrong with this; he doesn’t treat men that way. He was never smelling Barack Obama’s hair or kissing the back of Mitch McConnell’s head.
Does Joe Biden have a history of leaning in to rub his nose on another man's nose? Kissing colleagues' male partners on the lips? Coming up behind them to grab their shoulders and snuffle their hair?
No? Then we need to stop pretending that all that matters is his "intent."
— andi zeisler (@andizeisler) April 2, 2019
You know who surprisingly didn’t have a problem with this? #metoo leader Alyssa Milano.
I am proud to call Joe Biden a friend. He has been a leader and a champion on fighting violence against women for many years, and I have been fortunate to accompany him to events with survivors where he has listened to their stories, empathized with them, and comforted them. pic.twitter.com/cI0jsKlu3P
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) April 2, 2019
4. Joe Biden’s response that he never meant to make anyone uncomfortable and that he'll listen and learn from anyone who says otherwise is exactly the leadership we need to build a culture where women are heard and are equal.
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) April 2, 2019
It turns out that being billed fourth on Who’s the Boss doesn’t actually qualify you to responsibly lead a social movement, something Twitter noted right away.
it miiiiiight have been a mistake to let the extraordinarily wealthy appoint themselves the leaders of a social justice movement
— Sean T. Collins is seantcollins.bsky.social now (@theseantcollins) April 2, 2019
It’s not too much to expect a little consistency here. I agree that Joe Biden isn’t the same as Harvey Weinstein or Bill Cosby. If he was on a TV show or he worked at a Jiffy Lube, it isn’t something I would think he should lose his job over. He’s not even an elected official at the moment, though, he’s one of like a dozen Democrats running for the nomination, and he’s not even officially running. Pick someone who isn’t featured smelling women’s hair in reels and reels of video.