Yet another woman went public with allegations of sexual assault against 41st U.S. President George H.W. Bush on Thursday, October 26.
Via a confessional piece published by Slate, writer Christina Baker Kline delivered her account of a run-in with Bush Sr. that was similar to those that have surfaced from others over the past two days. Kline, who is the author of seven novels, spoke of meeting the former Commander-In-Chief at a private luncheon held prior to a 2014 family literacy fundraiser sponsored by the Barbara Bush Foundation. She had been invited to chat and have refreshments as one of the events guest authors, and all was well until she joined in for a group photo with her husband on one side of her and the elder Bush on the other.
“You’re beautiful,” Kline recalls Bush telling her in the Slate piece. After acknowledging the compliment with a thank you, Kline says that he then motioned for her to come closer so that he could tell her what his favorite book was. "David Cop-a-feel," Kline claims the ex-Pres told her as his hand grasped her backside. Kline noted that she is reminded of the incident every time her eyes pass over the photograph taken on that day.
Kline is the third woman in three days to accuse H.W. of groping her. On Tuesday, television actress Heather Lind posted then deleted a photo of the 94-year-old on Instagram, along with a caption in which she recounted Mrs. Bush shaking her head and a security guard brushing the incident off after he grabbed her behind during a screening for an upcoming drama. One day later Broadway actress Jordana Grolnick came forward to tell of a similar incident happening to her following a play recital in Maine.
A spokesperson for the former President has issued a statement in which he defends that Bush does have a tendency to place his hand on a woman's rear end every now and then, but that it is the result of his positioning in his wheelchair, combined with the difficulty he has lifting his arm above waist level. In regards to the "Cop-a-feel" line, the statement goes on to state that in a "good-natured manner" intended "to put people at ease, the president routinely tells the same joke."
Source: nydailynews.com
