OPINION:
A third woman has come forward to claim the former president, George H.W. Bush, inappropriately grabbed her body during a public event.
Who does Bush think he is — Joe Biden?
He’s becoming the creepy Joe of the Republican Party.
This incident was from 2014 — and we can say incident, rather than alleged incident, because the Bush people have put out an apology of sorts. And we can qualify that apology as an “of sorts” because — well, you just have to read it to believe it.
So anyway, Christina Baker Kline went to Houston a few years back for a Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy event. There, she lunched with the former first lady, Barbara Bush, before meeting with the former president.
Mediaite then tells: “[Bush] told her that she was ’beautiful’ and she thanked him. After confirming with her that she was a writer, he then whispered, ’You wanna know my favorite book?’ With ’impeccable’ comic timing, Bush reached his arm around her lower back, ’squeezed [her] butt hard,’ and answered, ’David Cop-A-Feel’ as the photographer took the picture.”
That, from a former president.
Slate called on the Bush people for comment, and this is what they had to say.
“At age 93,” Team Bush responded, “President Bush has been confined to a wheelchair for roughly five years, so his arm falls on the lower waist of people with whom he takes pictures. To try to put people at ease, the president routinely tells the same joke — and on occasion, he has patted women’s rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner. Some have seen it as innocent; others clearly view it as inappropriate. To anyone he has offended, President Bush apologizes most sincerely.”
Bush has “patted women’s rears” in a “good-natured manner?”
My gosh. Who are these people Bush has speaking for him?
Kline’s story comes on the heels of similar tales of Bush groping from two others — Heather Lind and Jordana Grolnick, both actresses.
Maybe more will come forward; maybe not. But here’s a takeaway, regardless: Bush, an ex-president, is shaping to be little more than a dirty old man. Read my lips: Bush, you’re not funny.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.