In a Sunday Facebook post, former state Senator Ellen Karcher from Monmouth County defended embattled former Vice President Joe Biden, who over the week found himself fending off a Nevada Democrat’s allegation that he acted inappropriately around her on the campaign trail in 2014.

Karcher posted the following:

“Joe Biden flirted with me and gave me his cuff links. He was a US Senator while I was an NJ Senator. We were at a political event. I admired his tie because it had fencers on it. My son is a very accomplished fencer and I had never seen a tie like it before. Biden told me I could have it and started to untie it. Then he realized it was a gift to him from his own son Beau. I insisted I did not want/need his tie or anything else ….. just his support. He was super nice and took off his cuff links and gave them to me. I was really surprised and at time I was flattered he would make such a personal connection with me. In retrospect maybe I should have been creeped out. Nah!!!!

“I’m flattered and I’m sorry so many people are piling on him because he has that ability to make a personal connection,” Karcher wrote. “If I hear a credible accusation that he touched a woman inappropriately or forcibly hugged someone who clearly did not want physical contact I may reassess. As for me and my encounter, it remains a personal highlight in my service. Second highlight was when I asked to get out of the car I was riding in with Senator Obama because he lit up a cigarette. 😬 Maybe I should have stuck it out!”

The daughter of the late former Speaker Alan Karcher, Democrat Karcher defeated Republican Senator John Bennett in 2003 to ensnare the LD12 senate seat. In her reelection bid, Karcher lost to Republican Senator Jennifer Beck, who served for ten years until her reelection loss in 2017 to Democratic Senator Vin Gopal in the redistricted 11th District.