President Trump mocks Joe Biden by tweeting doctored 'apology' video: 'Welcome back Joe!'
Democrats tread lightly around Biden accusations, Obama remains silent
Donald Trump Jr. appeared to mock Joe Biden by retweeting a doctored video of the former vice president addressing a series of misconduct allegations leveled against him.
Trump Jr., 41, retweeted the 15-second doctored footage of Biden Wednesday in which he acknowledged his tendency toward physical displays of affection and encouragement have made some women uncomfortable and he promised to be “much more mindful” of respecting personal space.
Biden is seen sitting and talking in the doctored video, while a viral photo of the ex-VP placing his hands on the shoulders of former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter’s wife, Stephanie Carter, is seen lurking in the background. The tweet was captioned, “Noooooooo Joe, NOT DURING THE APOLOGY!"
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Following the news, the photographs of Biden with Carter made their way back into the public eye, Carter wrote a post on Medium defending Biden and saying the photos were “misleading.”
“But a still shot taken from a video — misleadingly extracted from what was a longer moment between close friends — sent out in a snarky tweet — came to be the lasting image of that day,” she wrote.
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The video was Biden’s first direct comment on what has tripped up his preparations to enter the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign. He did not directly apologize but seemed to be seeking to ease some people's discomfort, which has raised questions about whether he could wage an effective campaign.
Last week, former Nevada Lt. Gov. candidate Lucy Flores accused Biden of inappropriate conduct during a 2014 campaign event, saying Biden “plant[ed] a big slow kiss on the back of my head.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.