Nancy Pelosi has a simple tip for Joe Biden to stop being accused of inappropriate behaviour: keep his arms straight.
Two women have now complained that the former US Vice President touched them inappropriately.
Activist Lucy Flores alleged Biden smelled her hair and kissed the back of her head at an event in 2014, while Amy Lappos said he grabbed her head and rubbed noses with her at a 2009 fundraiser while she was a Congressional aide.
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Videos of the 76-year-old touching other women in public have emerged online in the wake of the allegations.
Biden, who is expected to announce a 2020 Presidential run in the coming weeks, said he doesn't believe he's ever acted inappropriately with women.
But now the Speaker of the House of Representatives has publicly issued Biden with a warning.
Pelosi advised him to "join the straight arm club" while speaking at a Washington event on Tuesday (local time)," CBS reports.
"I'm a straight armer," she told the crowd, sticking her arm out to demonstrate the ideal handshake. "Just pretend you have a cold and I have a cold."
She defended Biden as an "affectionate person", but said he needed to acknowledge that women felt he'd invaded their space.
"[He] has to understand that in the world we are in now people's space is important to them and what's important is how they receive it, not necessarily how you intended it."
However Pelosi said Flores' and Lappos' allegations were not reason enough for Biden to abandon a bid for the White House.
"I don't think it's disqualifying," she said, according to CBS.
Despite having yet to announce his candidacy, Biden is polling well ahead of other Democrats in the field including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Beto O'Rourke.
Newshub.
