President Trump on Thursday shared an edited video making light of allegations of unwanted touching against former Vice President Joe Biden.
Trump posted the video, which features footage from a Biden statement issued a day earlier in which he addressed the allegations, on his Twitter feed with the message “WELCOME BACK JOE!”
In the 15-second clip, an image of the former vice president is edited into the footage to appear to grab Biden’s shoulders and nestle against the back of his head as he speaks.
{mosads}”I shake hands, I hug people, I grab men and women by the shoulders and say, ‘you can do this,’ ” Biden, who is widely expected to shortly enter the 2020 race, says in the clip. “And whether they’re women, men, young, old, it’s the way I’ve always been. It’s the way I try to show I care about them and I’m listening.”
The video was Trump’s latest barb at the former vice president, who has been at the center of controversy in recent days as several women have recounted instances where they said he behaved inappropriately.
The video appeared to originate from a Twitter account titled Carpe Donktum, and had been retweeted by the president’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
Trump mocked Biden over the allegations twice during a speech on Tuesday at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner, including saying he felt like calling the former vice president to say “welcome to the world.” He later told attendees that he “felt like Joe Biden” when he asked a military leader for a kiss upon hearing good news about the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
Trump was more restrained on Wednesday when asked whether Biden should apologize, telling reporters in the Cabinet Room that the former vice president is “going to make his own decisions.”
More than a dozen women accused Trump during the 2016 campaign of sexual misconduct. The president has denied the allegations.
Trump was widely criticized during the campaign after audio from a 2005 “Access Hollywood” appearance emerged in which he bragged about groping and kissing women without their consent. He later described his comments as “locker room talk.”
Several women have gone public in recent days to describe accounts of past interactions with Biden in which they said he touched them inappropriately or behaved in ways that made them uncomfortable.
Biden addressed the women’s stories in a video message posted Wednesday. He did not directly apologize to his accusers, but acknowledged that times have changed and that he would adjust his behavior.
“Social norms have begun to change, they’ve shifted, and the boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset, and I get it,” he said. “I hear what they’re saying. I understand it. I’ll be much more mindful. That’s my responsibility, and I’ll meet it.”