Fourth Woman Comes Out And Accuses George H.W. Bush Of Grabbing Her Butt

George H.W. Bush– the 93-year-old former president who’s now confined to a wheelchair– has been under fire for touching womens’ butts during pictures. The first accuser,  actress Heather Lind, actually said he “sexually assaulted” her.

In his defense, he’s at butt height in his wheelchair, and he makes the same old man joke about it over and over. His favorite magician is “David Cop-a-Feel.” Get it? These are the jokes, people.

A spokesman for Bush said, “President Bush would never — under any circumstances — intentionally cause anyone distress, and he most sincerely apologizes if his attempt at humor offended Ms. Lind.”

After another accuser came forward, and a Bush spokesman released another statement.

“At age 93, 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,” Bush spokesperson Jim McGrath said.

“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,” he added. “Some have seen it as innocent; others clearly view it as inappropriate. To anyone he has offended, President Bush apologizes most sincerely.”

Listen– I get it. A dude shouldn’t touch a woman’s butt (generally speaking– you know what I mean). But the guy is 93, so he’s probably all “YOLO.” And I have a huge problem with women characterizing those instances as “sexual assault.” Inappropriate? Sure.  But actual ASSAULT? That really hurts the women who’ve dealt with ACTUAL sexual assault. A 90-something year old wheelchair bound man touching a woman’s butt and making a dirty joke during a photo op just doesn’t cut it for me. Inappropriate? Yes. Assault though? Eh.

Now, there’s ANOTHER woman– we’re up to four now– accusing the 93-year-old of sexual assault. She claims Bush straight up groped her, and this was prior to his wheelchair bound days.

A former Republican candidate for state Senate in Maine has joined the ranks of women calling out President George HW Bush for allegedly groping them, bringing the number of accusers to four.

 

Amanda Staples told the Portland Press Herald in Maine that she was groped by Bush in 2006 in Kennebunkport.

 

Earlier thus week, Bush’s spokesperson blamed the awkward positioning of his arm while posing for photos on his being wheelchair-bound, but in Staples’ picture from 2006, he is seen standing.

Here’s the photo:

Listen– I’m not a whiny feminist, and I’m not easily offended. My family’s from New England. You know how New Englanders can be. While I wholeheartedly agree that feminists are hypersensitive and can’t take a joke, a former president grabbing my butt would probably make me extremely uncomfortable. I wasn’t raised in that culture, if you will. I can’t even IMAGINE my dad or grandfather grabbing a woman by the a$$ and making a dirty joke. Or just making a dirty joke in general. Perhaps I’m in the minority, but that’s my deal. It’s inappropriate, even if he’s just joking around. That being said, I STILL wouldn’t characterize this as straight up sexual assault.

Here’s my other major problem…if these women were OMG SO TRAUMATIZED by Bush and his butt touching ways, why are they just speaking out now? Maybe if they spoke out at the time, he would’ve stopped. Obviously, it wasn’t THAT big of a deal to them at the time. Why are they just speaking now?

‘Cause it’s the trendy thing to do.

h/t Daily Mail