Carlson is hardly alone in defending Biden on the right. In recent days, he has received votes of confidence from other Fox News personalities, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and even Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). Many of them seem to think that Biden is being railroaded and that this represents the #MeToo movement run amok.

To be clear, not everyone is on board. Carlson’s fellow prime-time Fox News host Sean Hannity has gleefully joined in bashing Biden, calling him “creepy” no fewer than 11 times in one segment Monday night. Others on the right have spread images of Biden allegedly engaging in such “creepy” behavior with women in public.

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But the newfound conservative defense of Biden is notable. And the decision to stand up for him actually makes sense coming from the right. However you think such allegations should be adjudicated in our national political dialogue, the GOP has taken a much less rigid approach to the whole thing. This fits with its long-running anti-political-correctness campaign. So in that way, it’s principled to also apply those standards to a Democrat — and especially one who is considered perhaps President Trump’s toughest general-election opponent, should he run and win the Democratic nomination.

Trump’s own history of being accused of sexual assault also has to play here. How can you attack Biden for a handful of instances that even the women involved don’t label “sexual assault,” when Trump has more than a dozen accusers alleging actual assault? There is also video of Trump talking about doing things in his interactions with women that are far, far worse than what Biden is accused of doing. If Biden should be undone or even just harshly judged based on accusations, what of Trump then? Conservatives argued during the 2016 campaign that Bill Clinton’s alleged misdeeds were even worse than Trump’s, but Biden’s are clearly on a much less serious level.

At the same time, you have to wonder how long this would hold up if Biden became Trump’s opponent in the general-election campaign. Hannity’s “Creepy Uncle Joe” routine shows how this is kibble for cable news talkers. It’s not difficult to see another accusation coming out against Biden that these folks suddenly argue crosses the line. If that’s the case, though, they’ll have some explaining to do.

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And even in his apology to Biden on Wednesday night, Carlson was quick to not-so-subtly attack Biden’s constitution. He called it “sad” and not “dignified” for a man of Biden’s age to bend to the pressure. There seems to be something of a desire here to augment an issue that is dividing the Democratic Party and forcing it to make some difficult decisions about how it handles such situations. The party took a hard line in 2017 when then-Sen. Al Franken’s behavior with women in similar situations was at issue, but it seems less comfortable casting Biden aside so quickly. Franken (D-Minn.), it bears noting, was accused of worse deeds, including forced kissing.