I wish Lucy Flores had gone public in 2016.

[lapucelle]

Lucy Flores had contemporaneous knowledge of the pervasive predatory culture, discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual violence rampant at a campaign she was working on. She could have helped to end those disgusting practices in real time by standing up and speaking out. Lucy Flores chose silence rather than advocacy for those victims.

It is certainly a shame that Ms Flores suffered from an episode of unwanted touching some five years ago, and her choice to go public about her uncomfortable feelings is the course she has decided to follow, as is her right. However, perhaps she should speak to the other women hugged by Joe Biden about their perspectives before she mischaracterizes their perceptions of those public encounters.

The real time to speak for other victims was in 2016. Hopefully the victims asked Flores not to speak out publically about the abuse. It would have been disgusting to look the other way in the interest of protecting the political ambitions of any candidate.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that Ms Flores chose to continue to work on a campaign characterized by a pervasive predatory culture despite the fact that she knew co-workers were being repeatedly victimized.

Lucy Flores needs to more fully discuss the allegations, what she knew and when she knew it, and clarify exactly why the victims' claims were not addressed in real time. Hopefully a journalist will ask Ms Flores for a fuller account of what happened in secret in 2016 as we continue to examine the public behavior of the former vice president.