Former President George H.W. Bush apologizes for having 'patted women's rears' after 2 women complain

George H.W. Bush accused of groping women

(Image credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

last updated 26 October 2017

On Tuesday, actress Heather Lind said in an Instagram post, since deleted, that when she met former President George. H.W. Bush four years ago, "he sexually assaulted me. ... He touched me from behind from his wheelchair with his wife Barbara Bush by his side. He told me a dirty joke. And then, all the while being photographed, touched me again." On Wednesday night, another actress, Jordana Grolnick, told her "entirely similar" Bush story to Deadspin, revealing the "dirty joke" Bush apparently tells with some regularity.

After a play in August 2016, Grolnick said, Bush came backstage in his wheelchair and "we all circled around him and Barbara for a photo. ... He reached his right hand around to my behind, and as we smiled for the photo he asked the group, 'Do you want to know who my favorite magician is?' As I felt his hand dig into my flesh, he said, 'David Cop-a-Feel!'"

Bush apologized in a 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. 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."

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After the incident, Grolnick thought, "Whatever. He's a dirty old man," she tells Deadspin, adding: "I've come to realize is that if we tolerate these small comments and grazes from men on the street or former presidents, they might assume that it's okay with us, and they may take it as permission to do who-knows-what else." Read more at Deadspin.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.