Stephanie Carter, the wife of former Defense Secretary Ash Carter, has come to the defense of Joe Biden, saying a photo of them together has been “misleadingly extracted” by Biden’s opponents. The former vice president is facing a backlash for his public displays of affection with women after an allegation of inappropriate conduct from Lucy Flores, the former Nevada Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor. The photograph with Carter, taken at the White House in February 2015 during Ash Carter’s swearing-in ceremony to lead the Pentagon, shows Biden standing behind Stephanie Carter and with his hands on her shoulders. In a Medium post, she wrote: “A still shot taken from a video — misleadingly extracted from what was a longer moment between close friends — sent out in a snarky tweet — came to be the lasting image of that day.” She added: “I told them I felt awful that after he had generously taken time out of his day to swear in an old friend, his attempt to support me had become a joke and even more—supposed proof positive that he didn’t understand how to respect women.”
