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George Bush Sr. Apologizes After Actress Goes Public With Sexual Assault Allegation

Oct 25, 2017  •  Post A Comment

The latest round of sexual assault allegations in the post-Harvey Weinstein era has reached all the way to George H.W. Bush, the 93-year-old former president, who issued an apology after being accused of sexual assault by actress Heather Lind.

Lind went public with her allegation in an Instagram post, which has since been deleted. In it, she described an incident almost four years ago that took place during a photo shoot.

People magazine reports that Lind’s post said she was standing next to Bush when he “touched me from behind from his wheelchair with his wife Barbara Bush by his side.” She also said Bush told her a “dirty joke.”

The content of the Instagram post was captured by the U.K. publication The Daily Mail and other outlets. The Daily Mail’s report includes a photo from the photo session in March 2014, showing Lind and Bush next to each other.

Jim McGrath, a spokesman for Bush, released a statement following the accusation, writing off the incident as an “attempt at humor.” The statement, distributed to media outlets, says: “President Bush would never — under any circumstance — intentionally cause anyone distress, and he most sincerely apologizes if his attempt at humor offended Ms. Lind.”

Lind had a recurring role as Katy on HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” and more recently played Anna Strong, one of the main characters in the AMC series “Turn: Washington’s Spies.” The 2014 photo session took place in Houston at a private screening of the “Turn” series premiere.

The text of Lind’s Instagram post was accompanied by a recent photo of five former presidents in which Barack Obama is seen shaking hands with Bush Sr.

“I found it disturbing because I recognize the respect ex-presidents are given for having served,” Lind wrote in the post. “And I feel pride and reverence toward many of the men in the photo. But when I got the chance to meet George H. W. Bush four years ago to promote a historical television show I was working on, he sexually assaulted me while I was posing for a similar photo.

“He didn’t shake my hand. 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.”

Lind also wrote: “Barbara rolled her eyes as if to say ‘not again.’ His security guard told me I shouldn’t have stood next to him for the photo. We were instructed to call him Mr. President. It seems to me a President’s power is in his or her capacity to enact positive change, actually help people, and serve as a symbol of our democracy.

“What comforts me is that I too can use my power, which isn’t so different from a President really,” she added. “I can enact positive change. I can actually help people. I can be a symbol of my democracy. I can refuse to call him President, and call out other abuses of power when I see them. I can vote for a President, in part, by the nature of his or her character, knowing that his or her political decisions must necessarily stem from that character.”

Heather Lind in “Turn: Washington’s Spies” (AMC)

9 Comments

  1. I’m sorry but this “sexual assault” runs the risk of trivializing sexual assaults. George H.W. Bush is an old man with diminished capabilities in the twilight of his long, distinguished life. Give the guy a break, for god’s sake. And by the way, I am a liberal Democrat who never voted for either Bush.

  2. this actress is a hack who is looking to ride the PR wave … and probably trying to cash in …

  3. Bush was over 90 years old, in a wheelchair, with his wife by his side and photographers all around, and this clown says Bush sexually assaulted her? This is a slap in the face to all of the women who have actually been sexually assaulted. Her post is probably going to get her branded as a “PR whore”

  4. So, what all of you are saying is that it is impossible for an elderly invalid not to run his hand up a lady’s dress who is standing right next to him? Really? But ya, why now? How long ago did this happen? I would not completely dismiss it.

    This is the end of rich, white powerful men possessing absolute power.

  5. My own father suffered from dementia in his final years and I would have been appalled if anyone who can see that he was not in his “normal” state of mind and was confined to a wheelchair would forgive his child-like misbehavior. Anyone claiming that this was a sexual assault better hope that someone doesn’t judge her own father if he was in the same condition. Good Grief! Like she couldn’t have moved away from him if she was uncomfortable. Women who claim attention with this kind of pettiness is a disgrace to other women and minimizes the true assaults of others. I am embarrassed for this spotlight starved actress. I am am a very progressive woman, so I’m speaking honestly from my heart. This has nothing to do with politics or women’s rights.

  6. I am certain that Mr. Bush is still “all there,” especially as his wife “rolled her eyes.”

  7. Give his ass a break for what all the war crimes he commited him and the cia. With the contra rebels its in record the usa government pumped cocain into the ghetto if amercia and they killed genrations if kids u barley survive but my 40yr old sin struggles he had no mom for yrs cauae I was addicted..if it wasnt for God and the belife I had in him I be dead today

  8. I don’t think the actress said he put his hand up her skirt . Lets not let our hatred keep us from loosing our prospective. He is an old man and dementia or not I am sure he has lost some of his filter . Not excusing it but it is not to the degree of everything is being revealed.

  9. This is just another woman wanting some easy publicity. Shame on her. He has always been ethical whether you believe in his politics or not. He is now 93 and trying to keep his head together. So he touched her from behind? Where? How? And then he told a “dirty joke?” My guardians were always telling off-color jokes and I was always embarrassed by them. But they weren’ classified as sexual harassment. Here we go again. Something hits the newspapers and then everyone comes out from under rocks to declare that they too were harassed! Trying to get some publicity and money or both? The woman was nuts to make a big deal out of it and the media was stupid to let her.

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