Brzezinski on Biden allegations: ‘I don’t think there is bad intent on his part at all’

MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski on Monday defended former Vice President Joe Biden against claims by a former Democratic candidate in Nevada that the potential presidential candidate inappropriately touched her at a campaign rally in 2014.

Lucy Flores, a former Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor in Nevada, on Friday accused Biden of inappropriate touching.

{mosads}Brzezinski said an “extensive and careful conversation” may be necessary about the appropriateness of such gestures regardless of intent, but said that she had known Biden for many years and did not think there was any “bad intent on his part at all.”

“There’s a lot of things I know about Joe Biden — I’ve known him for a long time — he is extremely affectionate, extremely flirtatious in a completely safe way,” Brzezinski said on Monday. “I am sure that somebody can misconstrue something he’s done. But as much as I can know what’s in anyone’s heart, I don’t think there is bad intent on his part at all.”

Last week, Flores, a former Nevada assemblywoman, wrote that Biden made her deeply uncomfortable by sniffing her hair and kissing the back of her head at a 2014 event.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Sunday pointed to the incident as a “big problem” for Biden should he decide to run for the White House in 2020. 

Brzezinski also pointed to a viral photo of Stephanie Carter, the wife of Obama-era Defense Secretary Ash Carter, that shows Biden leaning into her with his hands on her shoulders. Carter has said that the photo is misleading and that he did not make her feel uncomfortable.

“Democrats, you really have to ask yourself, what is the ‘Me Too’ line you’re going to draw?” Brzezinski, the co-host of “Morning Joe,” asked.

While Biden has yet to announce a White House bid, he has consistently led polls of the 2020 Democratic field and has been widely expected to enter the race.

If he jumps in, he would be joining a crowded field that includes Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas).

Several Democratic candidates have responded to Flores’s allegations, with Warren and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro both expressing support for her.