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WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump cracked a few jokes about the allegations encircling Joe Biden – the same day two more women came forward with accusations against the former vice president.
The new allegations, reported by The New York Times, follow the claims of two women who have come forward over the last five days to accuse Biden of unwanted, inappropriate behavior.
Speaking at the National Republican Congressional Committee Dinner on Tuesday, Trump suggested Biden would not pose a threat to him if he entered the 2020 presidential race, thanks to "socialists" working to take him down.
"It looks like the only non-sort-of-heavy socialist, he's being taken care of pretty well by the socialists. They got to him. Our former vice president," Trump said. "I was going to call him, I don't know him well, I was going to say, 'Welcome to the world, Joe. You having a good time, Joe? Are you having a good time?'"
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Trump brought up the former vice president while discussing his reelection theme, asking the audience if he should embrace "Keep America Great" or keep the slogan from his 2016 campaign, "Make America Great Again."
Later, Trump again mentioned Biden while telling the crowd about a general who told him defeating ISIS could be done within a week. "Give me a kiss," Trump said he told the general.
He continued: "I felt like Joe Biden."
The Times on Tuesday night published accounts from two additional women who said Biden's close contact made them feel uncomfortable.
Caitlyn Caruso told the Times that Biden put his hand on her thigh during an event about sexual assault at UNLV in Las Vegas. Caruso, 22, said she was 19 at the time and told the Times that the incident happened after she finished telling her story of an assault.
“It doesn’t even really cross your mind that such a person would dare perpetuate harm like that,” she told the Times. “These are supposed to be people you can trust.”
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Another woman, D.J. Hill, told the Times that in 2012 at a fundraising event in Minneapolis, Biden placed his hand on her back then started dropping it down her back.
Hill, 59, said it made her "very uncomfortable" and told the Times that her husband noticed the incident and intervened by cracking a joke and putting his hand on Biden's shoulder.
"Only he knows his intent," Hill told the Times, adding "If something makes you feel uncomfortable, you have to feel able to say it."
Biden has previously denied any wrongdoing.
"In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort," he said Sunday. "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."
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The string of accusations began after Lucy Flores, a former member of the Nevada Legislature, accused Biden of "demeaning and disrespectful" behavior when he allegedly kissed the back of her head.
In a column for New York Magazine, Flores detailed a backstage encounter with Biden during a 2014 event in Nevada where he was speaking to help boost voter turnout for Democrats.
"I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified," Flores writes. "He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldn’t process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused."
On Monday, the Hartford Courant reported Amy Lappos of Connecticut said Biden touched her and rubbed his nose on hers during a 2009 political fundraiser in Greenwich.
"It wasn't sexual, but he did grab me by the head," Lappos told the newspaper. "He put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to rub noses with me. When he was pulling me in, I thought he was going to kiss me on the mouth."
The allegations against Biden come amid #MeToo, a movement started nearly a decade ago that went viral in 2017 as women in Hollywood and across the country began sharing stories of sexual harassment and assault. It’s led to the resignation or downfall of more than 100 entertainers, executives and politicians, including Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer and Kevin Spacey. Former Minnesota Democrat Sen. Al Franken announced his resignation in 2017 following accusations of sexual misconduct. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., also stepped down, along with Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., who resigned amid reports he discussed with female staffers the possibility they could be surrogates for his and his wife's baby.
More than a dozen women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct over the years, including eight women who have accused him of forcibly kissing them. Trump has denied the allegations. In an “Access Hollywood” tape that surfaced during the final weeks of the presidential campaign in 2016, Trump was heard making lewd comments and bragging about groping women. The president has said that was "locker-room banter."
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