Third Woman Says She Was Groped By Former President George H. W. Bush

A third woman has come forward alleging she was groped by former President George H.W. Bush. Author Christina Baker Kline claimed this week that Bush grabbed her inappropriately at an event in Houston in 2014.

Writing at Slate in a piece published Thursday, Kline said she was a guest author at a Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy fundraiser at which she and her husband posed for a photo with the former president. It was at that time that she says Bush “beckoned me close.”

According to Kline, a conversation between the two went as follows:

“Hello,” I said. “It’s truly an honor to meet you.”
He cocked his head at me for a moment, then said, “You’re beautiful.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“You’re a writer.”
“Yes."
“You wanna know my favorite book?” he whispered. I had to lean close to hear him.
“Yes, what is it?”

Bush allegedly replied “David Cop-a-feel” before he “squeezed my butt, hard, just as the photographer snapped the photo,” Kline said, adding that she “swiped his hand away.” Kline claims that the photo reveals Bush’s amusement at his joke as well as her discomfort at the situation.

“This is what’s most galling: I was at that event as a guest author, alongside three male authors. I was groped. As far as I know, they were not,” Kline wrote. “What happened to me at a literary luncheon with a former president would never have happened to them. At the very moment when I was feeling honored to be recognized for my work and to raise money for this important organization that I believe in, President Bush made clear to me that because I am a woman, I can be objectified, sexualized, reduced to a body part.”

When reached for comment by Slate, Bush spokesperson Jim McGrath repeated the same statement that has been given in response to other allegations made against the former president.

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

Kline’s story appears to be similar to those shared by other Bush accusers. Actresses Heather Lind and Jordana Grolnick have also alleged that they were touched inappropriately by Bush.