Strange

Bush Wipes Haiti Handshake on Clinton's Shirt

by Jordan Yerman | March 24, 2010 at 09:07 am

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George W. Bush Wipes Hand on Clinton after shaking hands with Haitian

During a visit to Port Au Prince, Haiti, former US Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton met with locals as they worked to rebuild their destroyed city. BBC video captured George W. Bush shaking hands with a Haitian local, and immediately wiping his hand on Bill Clinton's shirt.

Haiti Earthquake Coverage

George W. Bush: A Fan of Hand Sanitizer

George W. Bush apparently has an issue with shaking hands even before the H1N1 scare, as President Barack Obama discovered first-hand.

"Obama!" Bush exclaimed, according to Obama's account of the meeting in his second memoir, "The Audacity of Hope." "Come here and meet Laura. Laura, you remember Obama. We saw him on TV during election night. Beautiful family. And that wife of yours -- that's one impressive lady."

The two men shook hands and then, according to Obama, Bush turned to an aide, "who squirted a big dollop of hand sanitizer in the president's hand."

Bush then offered some to Obama, who recalled: "Not wanting to seem unhygienic, I took a squirt."

It's difficult not to draw a direct line between this handshake-wipe and Bush's treatment of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina trashed the city. When all eyes are on you, you simply have to develop better personal PR skills.

The story that this video tells is either "this guy doesn't like black people" or "this guy doesn't like poor people". Neither is the message that any aid group would willingly send: after all, an earthquake rebuilding zone will be, by definition, dirty.

Bush and Clinton are in Haiti on behalf of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

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Uwe Paschen

at 17:53 on March 24th, 2010

I am surprised this is not making the front page.

Sad actually and it may explain a lot about the man him self.

This was a President and a role model...?

Mary Richard

at 18:42 on March 24th, 2010

Just as classy as ever, I see.

Japhs jay (not verified)

at 04:47 on March 25th, 2010

Clearly, the man who ruled America for 8 yrs and being a powerful politician on earth by then is by no means ordinary person. It is shame that he does such a thing in pretext of either being killed or getting germs. Rumour has it that even his father, former president Bush senior had the same tendencies. Either, they are racist to black race or are created differently from other human beings. Question is why then great people in the first place? Wasn't there an aide to hand over the sanitizer than using Clinton (former president like him) shirt?