April 3, 2019

Biden Promises to Be More Respectful of “People’s Personal Space”

“I get it.”

Joe Biden delivers the keynote speech at the First State Democratic Dinner at the Rollins Center in Dover, DE on March 16, 2019.Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via ZUMA Press

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Joe Biden took to Twitter Wednesday to respond to a recent string of allegations that throughout his career, he had touched some women in ways that made them uncomfortable.

“I’ll be more mindful and respectful of people’s personal space,” the former Vice President said in the two-minute video.

He said that it had long been his practice to offer hugs and grab the shoulders of people whom he felt needed his support. But he added that he now recognizes “social norms have begun to change” with respect to the boundaries of appropriate physical contact. “I get it,” he said. “And I’ll be much more mindful. That’s my responsibility, and I’ll meet it.

“In my career, I’ve always tried to make a human connection,” he said. “I’ve never thought of politics as cold and antiseptic. I’ve always thought of it as connecting with people.”

Biden has not yet officially announced whether he will join the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, though he has repeatedly hinted that he will. He reinforced the possibility in the video, saying, “In the coming months, I expect to be talking to you about a whole lot of issues.”

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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