Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
Did Lucy Flores or other women report inappropriate touching by Joe Biden?
Executive Summary
Lucy Flores publicly accused Joe Biden of inappropriate touching and kissing at a 2014 campaign event, describing the encounter as "awkward and disturbing," and Biden acknowledged that he never intended to make her uncomfortable while saying he would be more mindful of personal space [1] [2]. Multiple other women have come forward with similar accounts of unwelcome touching or close physical contact — notably Amy Lappos — and media summaries and compilations since 2019 document a range of allegations and responses from Biden and his allies; these accounts and institutional summaries have been updated and referenced in later overviews through at least 2025 [3] [4] [5].
1. The Core Claim: A Former Lawmaker Says She Felt Violated
Lucy Flores’s allegation is specific: she said Joe Biden approached her from behind at a 2014 Nevada campaign event, smelled her hair and kissed the back of her head without her consent, leaving her uneasy and disturbed. Flores went public with her account in 2019, and major outlets reported her statement alongside Biden’s response that he did not intend to make her uncomfortable; Biden framed the contact as a gesture that had been misjudged rather than as malicious behavior [1] [2]. The contemporaneous reporting in 2019 established Flores as one of the first widely publicized accusers to describe a tactile encounter with Biden, and her account became a focal point for national discussion about physical boundaries in public political life [3].
2. Other Women’s Accounts: Patterns or Isolated Incidents?
Beyond Flores, at least a small group of women publicly described unwanted touching or overly familiar contact by Biden in various contexts, with Amy Lappos recounting a 2009 fundraiser where Biden touched her face with both hands and rubbed noses, among other claims cataloged by news compilations and reference pages [2] [6]. Reporting and curated timelines from 2019 onward collected these accounts into lists that show differences in specifics and context; these compilations do not present a criminal adjudication but do document multiple women who perceived Biden’s conduct as crossing boundaries. Media coverage emphasized variance in the encounters — different years, settings, and descriptions — while highlighting a common theme of women feeling uncomfortable afterward [6] [5].
3. Biden’s Response and Family Reaction: Acknowledgment Without Admission
Joe Biden’s public response to Flores and other women was to express that he never intended to make anyone uncomfortable and to pledge greater sensitivity to personal space, a stance echoed by his wife Jill Biden who said he would need to be a better judge of such matters [1] [7]. This response functioned as a partial acknowledgment of the perception of discomfort without an explicit admission of misconduct; outlets reported the statement as Biden’s attempt to address concerns while maintaining that his intent was not inappropriate. The messaging by Biden and his spokespeople consistently framed the incidents as misunderstandings about affectionate gestures, stressing intent and context rather than disputing that some people felt harmed [2] [7].
4. Media, Timelines, and Evolving Documentation Through 2025
Since Flores’s 2019 disclosure, news organizations and aggregators have produced timelines and lists of allegations, and reference pages such as Wikipedia’s compiled entries have been updated through at least 2025 to reflect the public record of claims and responses [4] [8]. Reporting in 2019 provided the initial wave of coverage; subsequent years saw retrospective summaries, academic commentaries, and compilations that placed the allegations in the broader #MeToo-era discussion. These sources emphasize that while multiple women reported unwanted contact, the public record consists of journalistic accounts and personal testimonies rather than criminal findings, and that documentation continued to be curated and republished as new overviews emerged through 2024–2025 [5] [4].
5. How to Read These Reports: Evidence, Context, and Limits
The public record shows specific personal testimonies (Flores’s 2014 incident detailed in 2019) and additional similar claims from other women; news reports and compilations document these statements and Biden’s responses but do not constitute judicial determinations [1] [2] [6]. The media narrative evolved from initial allegations to broader contextual discussions about norms, intent, and power dynamics, and later summaries through 2024–2025 integrated these accounts into longer-term assessments of political behavior and cultural change. Readers should distinguish between documented allegations and legal findings: the sources cited record personal accounts and public statements that establish that Flores and other women reported inappropriate touching, while also showing the responses and limits of available adjudication in the public record [3] [5].