Second woman accuses Joe Biden of inappropriate touching

A second woman has accused former US Vice-President Joe Biden of inappropriate touching, as the leading Democrat mulls a White House bid.

Amy Lappos said Biden had touched her face with both hands and rubbed noses with her a decade ago.

The allegation comes after another women, Lucy Flores, said Biden kissed her on the back of her head at a campaign event.

Flores was running as the Democratic candidate for Nevada's lieutenant governor in 2014 when Biden flew in to support her bid.

As she prepared to go on stage, Flores say Biden placed two hands on her shoulders from behind, smelled her hair then planted "a big slow kiss on the back of my head".

Biden at first dismissed her claims, but later clarified, saying: "In many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort," the statement read. "And not once -- never -- did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested that I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention."

The former Delaware senator, who served as Barack Obama's vice-president in 2009-17, is seen as a possible frontrunner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Lappos, a 43-year-old former aide to a Democratic congressman, said Biden touched her inappropriately at a fundraiser in a private home in Hartford, Connecticut, in 2009.

Lappos called on Biden not to run for the White House, saying: "Uninvited affection is not okay. Objectifying women is not okay."

A number of candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination have backed Flores.

Senator Elizabeth Warren said Biden "needs to give an answer", and Senator Amy Klobuchar said that in politics "people raise issues and they have to address them".

Some supporters though have defended him. Cynthia Hogan, a former aide to the vice-president, told the New York Times that Biden "treated us with respect and insisted that others do the same".