(Des Moines, IA) Former First Lady Barbara Bush Thursday said the Bush family has “kept their clothes on” for 25 years and she’s unconcerned about questions raised about her son’s personal life and rumored but unconfirmed illegal drug use.
“Because there’s nothing wrong with his personal life at all, so it doesn’t bother me,” Mrs. Bush said of her son, George W. Bush, the front-runner for the Republican party’s next presidential nomination.
Mrs. Bush spoke over the noon-hour at a luncheon which raised $100,000 for her son’s campaign.
“If his father and I had had crowds like this, life would have been considerably easier,” Mrs. Bush joked, referring to her husband’s failure to win a second term as President.
During her remarks, Mrs. Bush recounted a recent family trip to Italy, where they stumbled across a nude beach.
“Now, thank heavens you of the news media were nowhere around. You probably would have managed to turn that into some kind of scandal. Now, for the record, all people named Bush kept their clothes on and have going back at least 25 years,” Mrs. Bush said, to applause.
Mrs. Bush said she and her husband are especially proud of their political sons who are the Governors of Florida and Texas.
“Did you know that one out of every eight Americans is governed by a Bush and with your help, we’ll make that all Americans,” she told the crowd of 250 which paid $100 each to attend the luncheon. The price tag for an earlier reception with Mrs. Bush was $1000 per person.
Mrs. Bush described the campaign as “overwhelming,” “tough but very exciting” and when asked beforehand by reporters if she enjoyed campaigning on her son’s behalf she said it was “o.k. I love the candidate.”
Her son’s campaign announced Thursday it has raised $56 million dollars this year from over 135,000 individuals.