One almost sensed from the breathless coverage of women who decided years later to object to former vice president Joe Biden’s non-sexual hugs and pats and kisses on the head that they expected the media to think it would be a fatal or near-fatal blow to Biden’s presidential chances. Not only was it not fatal, it didn’t register as particularly relevant to most Democratic voters. He was atop the polls before these stories aired, and he is atop them now.

Biden has been in the public eye since the 1970s, and unlike Hillary Clinton, who claimed the public never really knew her, voters feel like they know Biden pretty darn well. Many voters don’t remember anything before his vice presidency, his demonstrably warm relationship with President Barack Obama, his remarkable dignity after the death of his beloved son Beau, and his emotional goodbye to the late senator John McCain. He has established a level of emotional intimacy with voters that few politicians attain. He’s the chatty next-door neighbor, the avuncular relative and the co-worker who remembers everyone’s birthday.

The Republican Party would love to run against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) because they could make the election all about Sanders and socialism instead of Trump. They want to run against Buttigieg because they think they can use his sexual orientation and youth against him.

The person that Trump can’t figure out is Joe Biden. Trump has tried the “Sleepy Joe” attack but has flopped. Trump has now moved on to trying to attack Biden’s populism by coining him “1% Joe.” This also won’t work, especially coming from Donald Trump. Trump fears Biden’s populism and former vice president’s appeal in Rust Belt states.

Biden scares Trump, and that fear is never more obvious than when Trump starts talking about his potential opponents in 2020.