During the George W. Bush Presidential Center dedication on Thursday, former president Bill Clinton said he refused to pose nude for one of former President George W. Bush’s paintings.
Clinton teased Bush on his artistic talent (or rather lack thereof) claiming he almost commissioned Bush to paint a picture of himself — until he saw Bush’s own self-portraits.
“I probably shouldn’t say this, but I am going to anyway,” Clinton said. “Your mother showed me some of your landscapes and animal paintings and I thought they were great, really great. And I seriously considered calling you and asking you to do a portrait of me until I saw the results of your sister’s hacked e-mails.”
Clinton was referencing Bush’s nude self-portraits that surfaced after someone hacked into the Bush family’s personal email accounts.
“Those bathroom sketches were wonderful, but at my age I think I should keep my suit,” Clinton joked.
And Clinton’s ridicule of Bush didn’t stop there. He also called Bush’s new library “the latest, grandest example of the eternal struggle of former presidents to rewrite history.”
He did lament, though, that Bush is “disarmingly direct.”
“We were having an argument over health care in one of these speeches, and I went on about the German healthcare system and he [Bush] said ‘I don’t know a thing about the German healthcare system’,” Clinton said laughing.
The former POTUS also answered questions about his relationship with the Bush family during his speech.
“Starting with my work with President George H. W. Bush on the tusamni and the aftermath of Katrina, people began to joke that I was getting so close to the Bush family I had become the black sheep son,” he said.
“My mother told me not to talk too long today,” Clinton continued. “And Barbara I will not let you down,” he said looking straight at former First Lady Barbara Bush sitting in the crowd.
But despite Clinton’s guffaws, he still insists, “I like President Bush” and called the library “beautiful.”
