Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Trump claims Biden took blue collar workers' donations and gave them 'hugs and even kisses' before giggling at RNC crowd

President appears to make sexual innuendo during controversial speech at White House

Phil Thomas
New York
Thursday 27 August 2020 23:50 EDT
Comments
Trump claims Biden took blue collar workers' donations and gave them 'hugs and even kisses'

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Donald Trump made a joke about his Democratic rival Joe Biden giving blue collar workers “hugs and even kisses” during his controversial speech at the White House to accept the Republican nomination.

In what appeared to be a sexual innuendo, the president said: “For 47 years, Joe Biden took the donations of blue collar workers, gave them hugs and even kisses ...”

As members of the audience laughed and applauded, Mr Trump paused, raised his eyebrows and smirked.

Mr Biden has been praised for his empathetic rapport with people but has also been criticised by some as being overly tactile.

In March this year he was accused of having committed a sexual assault against a former staffer, Tara Reade, in 1993 when he was still a senator. He has repeatedly denied the accusation.

Mr Trump meanwhile has been accused of a series of sexual assaults, harassment and even rape by more than 20 women. He too has denied any wrongdoing.

Shortly before the 2016 election a video outtake from the TV show Access Hollywood was leaked showing Mr Trump boasting about sexually assaulting women.

The resulting row posed a serious threat to his election chances and apparently prompted the leak of hacked Democratic emails suggesting the party had conspired to help Hillary Clinton win the nomination over Bernie Sanders.

Mr Trump insisted that his boasts were nothing more than “locker talk”.

The president’s joke at Mr Biden’s expense came during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, controversially held at the publicly-funded White House in an apparent breach of ethical norms.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in