"Social norms are changing. I understand that, and I've heard what these women are saying," Biden wrote in a Wednesday tweet. "Politics to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future. That's my responsibility and I will meet it."
Several women have come forth in recent days to tell their stories about how Biden, who represented Delaware in the US Senate for many years before becoming US President Barack Obama's second-in-command in 2008, touched them in ways that made them uncomfortable.
"Only he knows his intent," DJ Hill, a woman who said she posed with Biden for a photograph at a 2012 Minneapolis fundraising event, told the New York Times on Wednesday. "But norms are changing now, and if something makes you feel uncomfortable, you have to feel able to say it."
"Join the straight-arm club with me," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) rhetorically advised Biden during an interview with Politico earlier this week. "Just pretend you have a cold and I have a cold."
Biden is expected to announce his much-anticipated 2020 presidential bid in the coming days.