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In his first interview since the launch of the third presidential campaign a day ago, Biden began by talking with his all-female commission about his relationship with former President Barack Obama – "very close" – and insults committed by President Donald Trump, which he laughed. The conversation, however, quickly shifted to old and new controversies around Biden himself.
Asked about the women who recently came forward to say that they felt they had invaded their personal space, Biden nodded, saying, "I must be, and everyone needs to be more aware of Private space of men and women.It is not only women, but mainly women.And I am much more aware of that. "
When Sunny Hostin, co-host, reported that the women had asked her to apologize, Biden appeared to be planning to impugn his apology.
"I'm really sorry if by talking to them, trying to console, they actually took it in a different way," Biden said. "And it's my responsibility to make sure that I bend over backwards to try to figure out how not to do that."
Biden was again against a third opportunity. "I'm sorry, it happened," he says, "but I'm not sorry in that I think I did something that was intentionally designed to do something wrong or inappropriate It was inappropriate that I do not understand. "
Biden and the hosts had a similar exchange on his treatment of confirmation hearings in 1991 of Clarence Thomas, a Supreme Court candidate at the time. Biden was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee when Anita Hill came forward to accuse Thomas of badual harbadment. During her subsequent testimony, she was subjected to intense and thorough questions by a group of senators composed exclusively of men and white people.
The ominous spectacle, chaired by Biden, has echoed for decades and is widely seen as a turning point, at Hill's expense, in the conversation about badual harbadment in the workplace.
Biden recently called Hill to discuss it, revealed his campaign on Thursday. Hill told The New York Times that she would not describe Biden's comments to him as an excuse.
Biden had another chance, but he was "grateful" that Hill answered his call and regretted his testimony. "Many mistakes have been made, in which case I apologize."
"I'm not going to judge whether the call was appropriate or not, that she thought it was enough," Biden told the panel, "but I said (to Hill) privately what i've said publicly: i'm sorry, she was treated as she was treated.I would have liked to be able to find a better way to fix this problem.I have put everything in to do what I thought was right in order to stop things. "
When asked why he waited so many years before contacting Hill directly, Biden said that after being "publicly apologized for the way she had been treated" and "publicly acknowledged" his contributions to change that culture, "he added. worried about how a call would be received.
"I did not want to, quote, invade his space," Biden said. But after acknowledging Hill's desire to hear excuses and consult with "the leading advocates for women's rights in this area," Biden chose to reach out.
In this regard, Ana Navarro, political commentator of the group of experts, suggested to Hill to present a more complete and direct apology from Biden: "I think she wants you to say that I'm sorry to the way I treated you, have been treated, "said Navarro.
"I'm sorry for the way she was treated," Biden said, distancing himself from the more antagonistic Republican senators on the committee and the broader Republican efforts at the time to discredit Hill. "I've never heard – if you go back and look at what I said and I did not say it, I do not think I did it badly." J & # I faced his opposition, which I did not know how to do – and we still did not understand – how do you prevent people from asking incendiary questions, how do you stop character badbadinations?
Biden was warmly welcomed by the show's panel. While he was on stage, he was featured as "the legendary Joe Biden," then spoke at length about his relationship with Obama, describing them as "very close friends." But Biden said he had not asked for the endorsement of his former boss because, as he said, "I did not want that to sound like it 's right. he put his thumb on the scale. "
The 76-year-old also ruled out any form of commitment to serve a single term, qualifying his age as a "legitimate question", before adding that he hoped to "demonstrate that age, wisdom and experience ".
Biden also shed light on Trump's recent attacks and insults. The president frequently calls Biden "Sleepy Joe" and, on Thursday morning, he described himself, at age 72, as "a young and dynamic man".
"If he looks young and dynamic compared to me, I should probably go home," Biden said. "Look, everyone knows who Donald Trump is.The best way to judge me is to look in. See if I have energy and ability."
Presidential politics, he added, is "a show-me affair".
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