CNN’s Smerconish defends Biden: ‘He’s touched literally tens of thousands of men and women’

CNN’s Michael Smerconish defended Joe Biden on Saturday, stating that “there’s been not a whiff of personal scandal about him” the former vice president.

“I don’t seek to minimize the feelings of women who believe he was too close for their comfort. If they think it, then it was,” Smerconish said on his weekly program Saturday morning. “I only wish to suggest that this is how he is with men and women. And with Biden, there’s nothing hidden, nor prurient about it.”

“In his half century of public service, he’s touched literally tens of thousands of men and women. In all of that time, there’s been not a whiff of personal scandal about him,” he added. “Look, there are reasons not to support Joe Biden for president, Smerconish later concluded. “But his tactile nature isn’t one of them.”{mosads}

The defense comes one day after several women have come forward in recent days to accuse the potential 2020 presidential contender of touching them inappropriately or in ways that made them feel uncomfortable.

Biden addressed the controversy for the first time publicly on Friday with a pair of jokes. 

Speaking Friday at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) conference, Biden joked that he had permission to hug the union president, Lonnie Stephenson.

“I want you to know, I had permission to hug Lonnie,” Biden said to laughter from the crowd.

Later, Biden invited several children on stage and shook their hands. Shortly after, he pulled one of the boys close and put his arm around him.

“By the way, he gave me permission to touch him,” Biden quipped.

Asked about the allegations by reporters after his speech, Biden did not apologize for his actions.

“I’m sorry I didn’t understand more,” Biden said. “I’m not sorry for any of my intentions. I’m not sorry for anything that I have ever done. I have never been disrespectful intentionally to a man or a woman. So that’s not the reputation I’ve had since I was in high school, for God’s sake.”

Biden later appeared to address the pair of jokes, saying that he did not intend to “make light of anyone’s discomfort.”

Biden sought to address the controversy earlier this week, pledging to change his behavior but declining to issue an apology.

“Social norms have begun to change, they’ve shifted, and the boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset, and I get it,” Biden said in the video. “I hear what they’re saying. I understand it. I’ll be much more mindful. That’s my responsibility, and I’ll meet it.”

Biden has not officially announced his bid for the White House but is widely expected to in the coming weeks. The 76-year-old currently leads the polls among other declared 2020 Democratic contenders, according to a RealClearPolitics average of polling.