Former United States Vice President – and Democratic Party presidential aspirant – Joe Biden on Wednesday released a video statement where he said that he will be “more mindful and respectful of people’s personal space”. Over the past week, four women have accused Biden of touching them inappropriately.

The first of these accusations came in on March 29 in an essay by Lucy Flores, a former member of the Nevada State Assembly. According to the essay, Biden behaved inappropriately with Flores during a rally in Las Vegas in 2014 when he “touched her shoulders from behind” and planted a “big slow kiss” at the back of her head. Following Flores’s account, three other women also made similar accusations against Biden.

Biden said in his statement following the allegations, “Social norms have begun to change, they’ve shifted, and the boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset and I get it. I get it. I hear what they’re saying,” According to him, “politics has always been about making human connections” which includes shaking hands with people, hugging them, and “grabbing men and women by their shoulders” to encourage them.