House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Joe Biden's sometimes too-affectionate politicking style is not disqualifying for a presidential bid but she has some advice for the former vice president and potential candidate: "Join the straight-arm club."
In other words, keep your handshakes at arms' length and don't be touchy-feely.
Pelosi told a breakfast-hour crowd at a Politico event in Washington that Biden "has to understand that in the world we are in now people's space is important to them."
But she said his behavior is should not prevent him from running for president.
"I don't think it's disqualifying," she said, suggesting that his apologies could have been better, too. "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."
Biden has been accused of being overly familiar in his dealings with women — rubbing women's shoulders in public, kissing the back of one woman's head, and rubbing noses with another — but not of assault or harassment.
This report contains material from The Associated Press.