The former vice-president issued a video after two more women described interactions that made them feel uncomfortable

Joe Biden doubled down on his defense as he faced fresh allegations from women who said their past physical interactions with him left them uncomfortable, foreshadowing the former vice-president’s perils as he weighs a bid for the Democratic party’s 2020 nomination.

In a video and statement released to his Twitter feed, Biden said that he had always seen politics as about “personal connection” and defended his habit of hugging and touching people he met. But he also added that he would change his habits in the future.

“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 of personal space in the future. That’s my responsibility and I will meet it,” Biden said.

Sign up for the US morning briefing

Biden’s remarks came a day after the allegations against him drew a rebuke from Donald Trump, who taunted the former vice-president over claims of unwanted touching by suggesting the potential 2020 frontrunner was being taken down by his party’s left wing.

“He’s being taken care of pretty well by the socialists. They got to him,” Trump said of Biden at a National Republican Congressional Committee dinner in Washington on Tuesday.

“I was going to call him. I don’t know him well,” the president added. “I was going to say, ‘Welcome to the world, Joe. You having a good time, Joe? Are you having a good time?’”

Trump, who bragged in a leaked 2005 Access Hollywood tape about groping and kissing women without their consent, has been accused of sexual assault by as many as 17 women. He denies the allegations.

The president weighed in as two more women came forward to say Biden touched them inappropriately. None of Biden’s accusers have alleged the former vice-president made unwanted sexual advances, stating instead that Biden’s unprompted physical contact was a violation of their personal space.

Trump’s willingness to engage with Biden on the issue nonetheless signals how Republicans will seek to weaponize the allegations, should the former vice-president enter the 2020 Democratic field, in the era of the #MeToo movement.

Play Video 2:34 Has Joe Biden's US presidential bid ended before it began? – video explainer

While Biden has long been photographed at events putting his arms around women, whispering in their ears and even kissing their foreheads, the behavior was long dismissed as part of his emotional and friendly demeanor.

Several prominent Democrats have publicly risen to Biden’s defense, insisting he is simply a tactile individual and meant no harm. Biden has himself apologized in written statements for making women feel uncomfortable.

The dam was broken by Lucy Flores, a former Nevada state assemblywoman who penned an essay recounting an interaction with Biden in 2014 in which he allegedly leaned in, smelled her hair and kissed the back of her forehead. Then came Amy Lappos, who said Biden put his hand around her neck and rubbed his nose against hers at a political fundraiser in 2009.

On Tuesday, two more women spoke out to the New York Times: Caitlyn Caruso, a former college student, said Biden put his hand on her thigh and hugged her “just a little bit too long” at an event on sexual assault at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas three years ago. And DJ Hill, a writer, said Biden put his hand on her shoulder and started dropping it down her back at a 2012 fundraiser.

“Only he knows his intent,” Hill told the Times.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Stephanie Carter said the media had mischaracterized Biden’s interaction with her, noting that he was a close friend ‘offering his support’. Photograph: Gary Cameron/Reuters

But other women have objected to the emerging narrative against Biden and chided the media for making assumptions about their interactions with the former vice-president.

Stephanie Carter, the wife of former defense secretary Ash Carter, released an op-ed this week criticizing the media for misinterpreting a widely shared image in which Biden was pictured holding her shoulders from behind and whispering in her ear. Carter said Biden was a close friend and simply “offering his support”.

Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, also disputed claims that his teenage daughter was uncomfortable when Biden planted a kiss on her forehead at a swearing-in ceremony in 2015. Coons said Biden was a grandfather figure to his children.

Republicans have meanwhile seized on the allegations in an attempt to disqualify Biden before he formally launches what is expected to be his third run for the presidency.

A pro-Trump group released a minute-long advertisement titled “Creepy Joe Biden”, featuring audio of Flores detailing her encounter and flashing images of Biden that include those disputed by the women in them.

“Our children are watching. What example will we set for them?” the narrator says.

“This behavior is unacceptable and should instantly disqualify anyone considering running for the highest public office in 2020.”

Democrats have yet to say Biden’s behavior is disqualifying, opting instead for a cautious and more nuanced conversation around the implications of his behavior.

“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,” House speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an interview with Politico’s Playbook.

“I don’t think it’s disqualifying,” she added.