Bill Maher defends Biden: ‘He’s not Harvey Weinstein or R. Kelly’

HBO host Bill Maher defended former vice president Joe Biden on Friday, saying allegations against the likely 2020 Democratic presidential candidate of inappropriate touching are not as “f—ing serious” as the sexual assault claims against disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein or R&B singer R. Kelly.

Maher said during the monologue for his show “Real Time” that he felt Americans are getting “a little nitpicky.”

“I mean, of course no one likes to be touched unwantingly, and women get a lot more of that than men, but the first person who brought this up said he made her feel ‘gross and uneasy.’ You know what makes me feel ‘gross and uneasy’? A second Trump term.”{mosads}

Maher continued as the crowd applauded.

“He’s not Harvey Weinstein or R. Kelly. He’s more like the TSA. And it’s getting ridiculous. A woman who came forward today said she was touched by one of his speeches,” Maher said of the former vice president.

Several women have come forward in recent days to accuse the former vice president of touching them inappropriately or in ways that made them feel uncomfortable.

Biden previously addressed the women’s accounts in a video shared Wednesday on social media. While he did not issue an apology, he pledged to adjust his behavior. 

“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.”

In his first public appearance since the allegations became public, Biden on Friday referenced the controversy with a pair of jokes. Speaking at an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers conference, Biden told attendees that he had received permission to hug the union leader and to put his arm around a child he invited up on stage.

Asked about the allegations following his speech, Biden again 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 jokes, telling reporters after his speech that he did not intend to “make light of anyone’s discomfort.”

“It was not my intent to make light of anyone’s discomfort,” Biden told reporters. “I realize my responsibility is to not invade the space of anyone who is uncomfortable.”

Biden, 76, is widely expected to enter the presidential race in the coming weeks.