George H.W. Bush Accused by Sexual Harassment
In the past, George H.W. Bush was constantly in the media for making decisions as the the 41st president of the United States of America. Today, the former president is back in the news, accused of groping a 16-year-old woman in 2003.
Are these accusations being falsely made against the former president, or did it actually happen? Here we will go through the details from both sides in order to determine whether there is a possibility of the accusations being true.
Why Now?
In October 2017, actress Alyssa Milano encouraged individuals who were sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein to speak up. Milano came up with the Twitter hashtag #MeToo to share personal experiences on social media, in order for women to feel empowered instead of feeling like victims. This was a great platform for women to use to tell about their personal encounters. By the middle of October, the hashtag was used more than half a million times.
This movement started by Milano started to snowball as others publicly accused famous figures of sexual harassment. Now the list of the accused includes former president George H.W. Bush.
In late October 2017, actress Heather Lind used the #MeToo hashtag to tell her experience of being groped and touched inappropriately by Bush. She said, “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, he touched me again.” This message was posted on “Instragram” and later deleted by Lind. (Source: “Another woman accuses George H.W. Bush of groping and making a ‘David Cop-a-feel’ joke,” The Washington Post, October 27, 2017.)
Days later, actress Jordana Grolnick came out and said she had the same experience as Lind while getting a photo with the former president.
The Accusations from Roslyn Corrigan
Recently, Roslyn Corrigan also said she was groped by George H.W. Bush. Now 30 years old, the woman said that she was groped by Bush back in 2003. She is the sixth woman to come out saying that Bush had in some way touched them inappropriately.
This alleged incident occurred when Corrigan was a teenager. Both Bush and Corrigan were attending an event that was being hosted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Roslyn attended the event with her mother because her father was part of the CIA.
During the event, Roslyn Corrigan and her mother took a photo with Bush. Corrigan says this is when the former president grabbed her from her waist to buttocks area.
Woman Says George H.W. Bush Groped Her When She Was 16: ‘I Was a Child’ pic.twitter.com/jphmmuuBPA
— Rahul Wilson (@rahulwilson09) November 14, 2017
After the photo, Corrigan told her mother about the incident and both were upset about Bush’s actions. Corrigan and her mother felt helpless, since, at the time it was the former president who had a more powerful platform than they did. They were concerned that speaking out would put Roslyn’s father’s job in jeopardy.
Both Corrigan and her mother kept this secret for years, until Roslyn Corrigan felt empowered to share her story after more victims came out to speak about their personal experiences.
The Facts
It has been confirmed that both Roslyn Corrigan and her mother were at the event; there is a photo of them with the former president, George H.W. Bush.
A major clue to not ignore are the words spoken by Jim McGrath, who represents Bush. “George Bush simply does not have it in his heart to knowingly cause anyone harm or distress, and he again apologizes to anyone he may have offended during a photo op,” said McGrath. In a previous statement, however, McGrath said that Bush “has patted women’s rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner.” (Source: “Woman Says George H.W. Bush Groped Her When She Was 16: ‘I Was a Child’,” Time, November 13, 2017.)
Dissecting the statements from McGrath, it seems likely that Bush did harass Corrigan at the event. There was no denial in McGrath’s statement; it was apologetic.
Before Roslyn Corrigan came out with her accusations, McGrath had said that Bush was innocent of such actions, saying, “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.” (Source: “Sixth Accuser: Woman Claims George H.W. Bush Groped Her When ‘I Was a Child’” Breitbart, November 13, 2017.)
The problem with that statement is that Bush was standing in the photo with Corrigan, not in a wheelchair, and he was 79 years old at the time. He was even physically fit enough to go skydiving in 2004 for his 80th birthday.
Closing Thoughts on the Accusations
At the end of the day, anyone could use a social media service to state their opinions or make up a story. However, it seems that the Bush’s accusers have no relationship to each other, and are merely stating what they held inside for years.
Bush’s spokesman is not helping the situation by simply apologizing for actions of the past. It seems that these statements are more admitting that there was wrongdoing on Bush’s behalf.
In the future, more evidence could come out, making a more concrete case for either side. The #MeToo campaign could result in more victims speaking out if there are individuals who have not already come out to share their horrible experiences.