(CNN) Earlier this week, Joe Biden released a video statement to address allegations that he had kissed a Democratic candidate for office on the head and smelled her hair during the course of the 2014 campaign, actions that she said made her feel "gross." Biden said 351 words in that statement. None of them were "I'm sorry" or "I apologize."

Lucy Flores, the former Nevada state legislator who made the allegation against Biden, took note of the absence of clear contrition. "Given the work he has done on behalf of women, Vice President Biden should be aware of how important it is to take personal responsibility for inappropriate behavior, and yet he hasn't apologized to the women he made uncomfortable," she said via Twitter following Biden's video statement.

And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi noticed too. "To say, 'I'm sorry you were offended' is not an apology. It's 'I'm sorry I invaded your space,'" she told Politico . "I've known Joe Biden a long time. My grandchildren love Joe Biden. He's an affectionate person, to children, to senior citizens, to everyone, that's just the way he is. ... But he has to understand in the world that we're in now that people's space is important to them, and what's important is how they receive it and not necessarily how you intended it."

That video statement by Biden was actually the third time in the space of roughly a week that Biden or a spokesperson for him addressed the allegations made by Flores and another woman in Connecticut. In neither of the previous two statements was an apology offered. (Here's the statement released Sunday morning via Biden spokesman Bill Russo .)

All of which raises a very simple question: Why not? After all, neither of the women who have come forward have accused Biden of sexually harassing or assaulting them. He's in no legal jeopardy. Instead, they have said that his behavior, whether he understood it or not, made them feel uncomfortable. It would seem to be a relatively easy thing for Biden to say something like this: I am deeply sorry that I didn't respect your personal space. I will change my behavior going forward but that doesn't change the past. So, all I can do is apologize and hope these women take me at my word that I get it now.

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