JOE BIDEN: Over the coming months, I expect to be talking to you about a bunch of issues. I'll always be direct with you. Today I want to talk to you about gestures of support and encouragement that I've made to women, and some men, that have made them uncomfortable. I've always tried to make, in my career, a human connection. That's my responsibility. I shake hands, I hug people, I grab men and women by the shoulders and say, "You can do this!"
Whether they're men or women, young or old, that's the way I've always been. That's the way I tried to show I cared about that, I'm listening. Over the years, knowing what I've been through, things I have faced, I've found that scores, if not hundreds of people have come up to me and reached out for solace and comfort. Something, anything, to help them get through the tragedy they're going through. It's just who I am.
I've never thought of politics as cold and antiseptic. It's always been about connecting with people. As I said, shaking hands, hands on the shoulder, a hug, encouragement. Now it's all about taking selfies together.
Social norms have begun to change, they've shifted, and the boundaries protecting personal space have been reset, and I get it. I get it. I hear what they're saying. I understand it. And I'll be much more mindful, that's my responsibility. It's my responsibility and I'll meet it.
I'll always believe governing, life, is about connecting with people. That won't change. But I will be more mindful and more respectful about people's personal space. And that's a good thing.
I've worked my whole life to empower women, I've worked my whole life to prevent abuse. So the idea that I can't adjust to the fact that personal space is more important than it has ever been is just not real, I will.
UPDATE: Just hours after former Vice President Joe Biden appeared on video to promise he'd be "more mindful" about others' personal space, three more women have gone public claiming he touched them inappropriately -- and all three said Biden's video didn't go far enough. Fox news has more here > Three more women accuse Biden