Another woman has come forward accusing former President George H.W. Bush of sexual assault ― this time while he was in office.
A 55-year-old woman, who asked to remain unnamed, told CNN that at a re-election campaign fundraiser in Dearborn, Michigan, in April 1992, the then-67-year-old Bush grabbed her rear during a photo op.
“We got closer together for a family photo and it was like, ‘Holy crap!’” she told CNN, describing the incident. “It was like a gentle squeeze.”
She didn’t say anything at the time, but told her ex-husband and her best friend soon after, reports CNN. The woman chose to come forward now after seeing similar allegations by other women against Bush in recent weeks.
“All the focus has been on ‘He’s old.’ OK, but he wasn’t old when it happened to me,” she added.
The woman’s story echoes accusations made by at least seven other women since October who have said the former president groped them during photo ops from 2003 to 2016. One woman said she was 16 years old when a then-79-year-old Bush groped her butt during a photo op in 2003.
This latest allegation is the first one said to have occurred while Bush was in office.
Bush spokesman Jim McGrath declined to comment to HuffPost on this latest allegation.
In response to the initial allegations regarding Bush, McGrath had issued the following 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,” McGrath wrote. “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.”
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article identified the woman who spoke to CNN as the seventh woman to accuse George H.W. Bush of groping her. She was the eighth.