He’s got nicknames like “Handsy” and “Creepy Uncle Joe.” He was also vice-president of the United States.

Now that other famous men in entertainment, politics and the media are being accused of sexual abuse, videos and photos of Joe Biden touching young girls and women are starting to attract attention. As bad as the things people have accused Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Roy Moore of? No, not nearly so bad. Okay then? No.

Not okay? Then liberals criticize Biden for being creepy and “inappropriate”? Do they tell him they won’t support him as a candidate if he acts like that? Well, no, not yet. They find excuses for him. He’s strongly for “women’s rights,” after all. He’s thorougly pro-choice.

But the possible 2020 Democratic presidential candidate may still find that being handsy means not being president.

Known For Years

Journalists have been writing about this for a few years. Look at this article from the lefty website Gawker from 2015. It gives lots of pictures of what it calls “groping Joe moments.” Time magazine let a Republican writer suggest the same year that “America Shouldn’t Tolerate ‘Biden Being Biden’.”

Please Support The Stream : Equipping Christians to Think Clearly About the Political, Economic and Moral Issues of Our Day.

Amanda Terkel, writing in Huffington Post, described another incident. “The teenage daughter of Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), for example, visibly cringed and pulled away when Biden whispered in her ear and kissed her on the head.”

NPR found the incident amusing. The news site relayed the incident in an article entitled, “The best of Biden being Biden from the new Congress’ first day.” Richard Armande Mills and Ace of Spades compiled a long list of Biden’s groping.

“The teenage daughter of Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), for example, visibly cringed and pulled away when Biden whispered in her ear and kissed her on the head.”

From the same year, New York Magazine posted a slideshow of photos called “9 Times Joe Biden Creepily Whispered in Women’s Ears.” In the first photo, he places his arms on the wife of the new secretary of defense speaks after being sworn in and whispers in her ear. Stephanie Carter does not look comfortable.

Members of congress are aware of Biden’s handsy history of groping children. In one video clip taken in congress, Biden reaches out to touch the granddaughter of Jeff Sessions. Sessions brushes his hand away from her. In another video, he puts his arm around the teenage daughter of Senator Joni Ernst while swearing the senator in. His joke made it clear he wasn’t hugging the girl in merely a fatherly way. He said, “I hope mom has a big fence around your house.”

They Think It’s Okay

Biden’s fellow politicians, liberal activists and the mainstream media have known about his inappropriate touching for a while. And how have they responded? Karl Markovitz, the writer in Time, listed some of the responses from 2015: “His defenders claim he’s from a different era, the equivalent of the kissing host on Family Feud,” he writes.

Except this isn’t the 1970s and these women aren’t on a game show. Others find the humor in sexual harassment in a way they likely wouldn’t if Joe Biden didn’t have a (D) after his name. NBC’s Capitol Hill Correspondent Kelly O’Donnell joshed Biden was “multi-tasking” when he had his arm wrapped around a teenager while swearing in her mother, Senator Joni Ernst. … Today co-host Matt Lauer wise-cracked that this was Biden’s way of “welcoming” the families of the new Senate class. Even PBS found “Biden being Biden” just so adorable.

Liberals haven’t changed where Biden is concerned. Niall O’Dowd, writing for Irish Central, says Biden “grabs men and women, hugs them, kisses them, gives them a shoulder rub, whispers in their ears.” He thinks it’s no big deal. He also doesn’t mention any of the incidents like that with Sen. Ernst’s daughter or Stephanie Carter.

Was he upset, though? No. O’Dowd excused the behavior as that of a “classic Irish politician.” He’s “tactile.” He’s an “old-fashioned meet and greeter.” Does that mean it’s OK to grope girls if you’re in politics and Irish, but inexcusable if your name is Weinstein or C.K.?

The Lack of Outrage

Writing in the Washington Examiner, also in 2015, conservative Byron York noted the lack of outrage, “Why is that kind of stuff OK when the vice president does it and cringe-making when it’s the overly-friendly guy in the office?”

Here’s the political problem as York sees it: “Do the incidents add up to anything?” he asks.

Assume that all of Biden’s gestures were entirely innocent, just Joe being Joe. Still, in today’s society, sexual harassment complaints have been lodged for less. Biden’s behavior gives critics plenty of ammunition and puts supporters in a difficult position.

Every liberal in America now says that men shouldn’t force unwanted physical contact on women. Even Democrats known for their support of “women’s rights” might not get a pass. Due to the current heightened scrutiny of sexual assault and sexual harassment, the groping may rule Biden out as a top presidential contender for 2020.

As HuffPost writer Amanda Terkel says, “the newly energized women under the Democratic tent may not want a relic from the pre-woke era to be their standard-bearer.”

Follow Rachel on Twitter at Rach_IC