Joe Biden still doesn’t get it, said longtime women’s rights activist Shaunna Thomas.

After offering three explanations in a week in response to at least three women who said he invaded their personal space, and promising to “be more mindful,” Biden made light of the situation Friday during a speech to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

After embracing union President Lonnie Stephenson, Biden told the audience, “I just want you to know, I had permission to hug Lonnie.” The audience laughed. Minutes later, he invited a group of children onstage, put his arm around one boy and said, “He gave me permission to touch him.” More laughter.

Thomas, co-founder of UltraViolet, a 1.2 million-member women’s organization that was at the forefront of gender battles long before the #MeToo movement started, was appalled.

“Biden doesn’t get it and that’s been the problem from the start,” Thomas said. “It’s why he refuses to apologize. What he did today was prove he doesn’t get it and undermine every other statement he’s made to date about listening and learning.”

Her reaction could be a preview of the main critique that 76-year-old Biden will face from fellow Democrats when he launches his putative presidential campaign: He is a man out of time.

Thomas is disappointed that Biden hasn’t apologized to former Nevada state legislator Lucy Flores, who said last week that Biden smelled her hair and kissed her head before she took the stage at a 2014 fundraiser. Nor did Biden apologize to two other women who told the New York Times that the former vice president invaded their personal space with unwanted touching.

“Honestly, I just have a question: Why not apologize?” Thomas said.

Flores tweeted Friday after Biden’s performance at the union event, “It’s clear @JoeBiden hasn’t reflected at all on how his inappropriate and unsolicited touching made women feel uncomfortable. To make light of something as serious as consent degrades the conversation women everywhere are courageously trying to have.”

Flores isn’t saying that Biden sexually assaulted or harassed her. And Thomas and other progressives say Biden’s conduct pales in comparison to how President Trump bragged about sexually assaulting women on the “Access Hollywood” tape that surfaced during the 2016 campaign. Nineteen women have accused Trump of sexually assaulting or harassing them.

But not boasting about grabbing women’s private parts is a low bar. Here’s what Thomas would like to hear Biden say: “ ‘I consider myself a champion for women. But I’m horrified that I caused harm to someone. I want to be a champion for fixing this broken culture. I apologize.’ ”

Biden, whose career has spanned nearly five decades, is clearly struggling to explain his way out of conduct that is well away from Harvey Weinstein territory, but also violates rules that many women would argue always existed — they just weren’t always voiced.

After two statements issued in his name, Biden launched his main attempt at damage control with a direct-to-the-camera talk this week. To Thomas, it failed because it was more about Biden than Flores or the other women who have complained about his conduct.

Social norms are changing. I understand that, and I’ve heard what these women are saying. 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. pic.twitter.com/Ya2mf5ODts — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 3, 2019

Although he insisted that “I get it,” Biden focused on the purity of his intentions. He alluded to how people connect to him because of the litany of personal tragedies in his life — losing his first wife and young daughter in a car crash in 1972 soon after being elected to the Senate; his son Beau dying of brain cancer in 2015.

“Over the years, knowing what I’ve been through, the things that I’ve faced, I found that scores, if not hundreds, of people have come up to me and reached out for solace and comfort — something, anything that may help them get through the tragedy they’re going through,’’ he said. “It’s just who I am. I’ve never thought of politics as cold and antiseptic.”

By saying, “It’s just who I am,” Biden missed a chance to be a leader in changing the culture Thomas said.

“He’s very concerned with his intentions. It’s a completely ego-driven frame,” Thomas said. “He’s saying, ‘If I didn’t intend it to be like that, then I shouldn’t be held accountable for this.’

“That’s exactly the wrong message we should be sending our children about what healthy relationships look like,” she said.

Nor did he apologize Friday after his speech at the union event.

“The fact of the matter is I made it clear: if I made you feel uncomfortable, I feel badly about that. It was never my intention. Ever,” Biden said.

Biden has his defenders. Former Democratic National Committee chair Ed Rendell told Fox News that Biden’s behavior didn’t disqualify him from running and that the allegations were part of a political hit job.

“The vast majority of the American people are sick of this stuff,” Rendell said. “They know what’s real and what isn’t real. This isn’t real.”

Perhaps that’s one reason Biden hasn’t apologized. Longtime Democratic operative Jennifer Palmieri, who worked for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, said on MSNBC that “getting a politician to apologize is a big deal.”

WATCH: Which is the bigger problem for Biden? Unwanted touching or family questions? #MTPDaily@mikememoli: "If you watch Fox News in prime time, you already know that it's becoming a problem." pic.twitter.com/18j6agqxNm — Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 3, 2019

When it comes to apologizing, Palmieri said, some politicians say, “‘Where does it end?’ Some don’t want to admit that it was wrong because then, when does it ever stop? That’s a bigger hurdle than some people appreciate.”

But, Thomas said, not apologizing for old-era conduct is bad politics in these times.

“It’s a political instinct that I don’t think will serve him well politically,” she said. “It’s all about him.”

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicle’s senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli