Joe Biden: The second woman accuses the ex-vice president of being hit unwanted

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A second woman accused former US Vice President Joe Biden of being inappropriately affected, while the main Democratic party was considering an offer to the White House.

Amy Lappos said that Mr. Biden had touched his face with both hands and rubbed his nose with it ten years earlier.

The allegation comes after another woman, Lucy Flores, said that Biden had kissed her behind the head during an election campaign.

Mr. Biden stated that he did not think he had ever acted inappropriately.

The former Delaware senator, who was vice president of Barack Obama in 2009-17, is considered a favorite in the race for the Democratic nomination for the presidency.

What do his accusers say?

Ms. Lappos, a former assistant to a 43-year-old Democratic congressman, said Mr. Biden had inappropriately touched her during a fundraiser in a private home in Hartford, in Connecticut, in 2009.

She told the Hartford Courant that the Vice President at the time had entered the kitchen to thank a group of collaborators, before putting her hands around Mrs. Lappos's face and coaching her to rub her the nose with her.

Mrs. Lappos called on Biden not to show up at the White House, stating, "An uninvited affection is not going to go, objectify women, it's not good."

Ms. Flores' allegations first appeared on Friday in an article she wrote for The Cut magazine.

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Flores ran as a Democrat candidate for Nevada's Lieutenant Governor in 2014 when Biden went flying to support his candidacy.

While she was preparing to go on stage, Ms. Flores stated that Mr. Biden had placed both his hands on his shoulders from behind, smelled his hair, then planted "a big, slow kiss to him." back of my head ".

What was Mr. Biden's answer?

Asked about this new allegation, a spokesman for Biden referred to reporters at a statement that he had issued Sunday.

"During my many years of campaigning and public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and reassurance.And not once, ever I did not think I acted inappropriately, he said.

"But we have come to an important moment when women feel that they can and must tell their stories, and men should pay attention to it, and I will do it," he added.

On Monday, a spokesman also accused "right-wing trolls" of presenting innocuous images of Mr. Biden interacting with women, which would constitute evidence of a contact inappropriate.

What was the reaction?

A number of Democratic presidential candidates for the 2020 presidential elections have supported Flores.

Senator Elizabeth Warren said Biden "must give an answer," while Senator Amy Klobuchar said in politics, "people raise issues and need to resolve them."

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Some supporters have however defended it. Cynthia Hogan, former assistant to the vice president, told the New York Times that Biden "treated us with respect and insisted that others do the same."

An ally of Mr. Biden told CNN that he was not considering a race at the White House as a result of allegations, but had pointed out that he still had no decision left to make.