Who Is Lucy Flores? New Details About The Nevada Assembly Woman Who Accused Joe Biden Of Kissing Her Without Consent
Joe Biden kissed her without permission.
instagram Attorney and former Nevada assemblywoman Lucy Flores has written and published an explosive personal essay on The Cut that details an encounter she had with former Vice President Joe Biden at a campaign event in 2014 when she was running for lieutenant governor of Nevada. The now 39-year-old was contacted by Biden's team. They offered her his support at her campaign rally. According to his team, Biden's presence would "help boost voter turnout" in Nevada. On November 1, 2014, just three days before the general election, Biden showed up at Flores' rally and that is when, according to her, there was an incident that she found "blatantly inappropriate and unnerving" between her and Joe Biden. Who is Lucy Flores?
1. Biden came up behind her
In the essay, Lucy Flores describes how as she was preparing to take the stage and make her speech, she felt two hands on her shoulders and froze. She asked herself, "Why is the Vice President of the United States touching me?'” She then alleges Biden got even “closer” to her from behind, and leaned further in to inhale her hair. While all of that is odd enough, it was what Biden reportedly did next that rattled Flores to her core. In her own words: "Just before the speeches, we were ushered to the side of the stage where we were lined up by order of introduction. As I was taking deep breaths and preparing myself to make my case to the crowd, I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze. "I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified. I thought to myself, 'I didn’t wash my hair today and the vice-president of the United States is smelling it. And also, what in the actual f*ck? Why is the vice-president of the United States smelling my hair?' He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldn’t process what was happening.”
2. She wanted to get away
Flores wrote that after Biden's kiss she felt a bunch of negative emotions. She wrote that she felt "uneasy, gross, and confused." She wrote: “I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused. There is a Spanish saying, 'tragame tierra,' it means, 'earth, swallow me whole.' I couldn’t move and I couldn’t say anything. I wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me. My name was called and I was never happier to get on stage in front of an audience.”
3. Lack of professionalism
Flores acknowledged that Biden's alleged behavior was neither sexual or violent. What struck her most, beyond the shock of it, was the lack of professionalism given his position as the Vice President of the United States. She wrote: “I had never experienced anything so blatantly inappropriate and unnerving before. Biden was the second-most powerful man in the country and, arguably, one of the most powerful men in the world. He was there to promote me as the right person for the lieutenant governor job. Instead, he made me feel uneasy, gross, and confused.”
4. Why come forward now?
Flores decided to go very public with her story five years later after seeing photos of Joe Biden with other women, such as the photo of Biden kissing Senator Chuck Grassley's mother on the lips in January 2017. She also mentioned photos of Biden "whispering in women's ears" and snuggling female constituents" such as in February 2015 when Biden put his hands on the shoulders of Stephanie Carter, wife of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and whispered in her ear. The more of these interactions between Biden and women she saw, the angrier she got. She wrote: “I saw obvious discomfort in the women’s faces, and Biden, I’m sure, never thought twice about how it made them feel. I knew I couldn’t say anything publicly about what those pictures surfaced for me; my anger and my resentment grew.” So she came forward on March 29th.
5. Her background
Lucy Flores was born in Glendale, California and grew up on the northeast side of Las Vegas in what she has called a "challenging environment." When she was nine, her mother abandoned the family. Flores then started getting in trouble. During her teen years she was a member of a gang and committing crimes. At 15, she was on juvenile patrol. She dropped out of high school at 17. That's the point when a parole officer inspired Flores to turn her life around. After another violation, the parole officer decided not to revoke her parole. Flores went out and got her GED, attended community college and then applied to the University of Southern California, where she earned her BA. From there she enrolled at the UNLV Boyd School of Law. In 2009, she ran for and won a seat on the Nevada Assembly.
Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles based freelance writer covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. She is deeply devoted to her chocolate Labrador and an avid long distance runner. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.