This is from an interview Bush gave today to a group of reporters:
He also offered an unequivocal defense of Palmeiro, a friend from their days together with the Texas Rangers in the early 1990s. Bush was the team’s managing partner when Palmeiro played in Texas.
The Orioles slugger was suspended for 10 days after testing positive for steroid use, despite his insistence that he never intentionally used the prohibited substance. Bush has been an outspoken critic of steroid abuse.
“Rafael Palmeiro is a friend. He testified in public and I believe him,” Bush said, referring to Palmeiro’s denials under oath to a congressional committee on March 17. “He’s the kind of person that’s going to stand up in front of the klieg lights and say he didn’t use steroids, and I believe him. Still do.” Of course, as this Slate article points out, Bush spoke out against steroid abuse in his SOTU address:
http://slate.msn.com/id/2123807/Bush used his 2004 State of the Union Address to denounce steroids, and what kind of president would mislead the country in a State of the Union?
Little Blue Pills: But as Arnold might say, the history of steroid allegations has been where there's smoke, there's fire. Alas, the evidence against Bush keeps mounting. Today, Major League Baseball suspended longtime Bush pal Rafael Palmeiro because he tested positive for steroids.
In March, Palmeiro told Congress, "I have never used steroids. Period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never." Now, in a spin that won't fool Dr. Lawrence Altman, he says steroids didn't enter his body "intentionally."
As the Washington Post reported in July, "Palmeiro and Bush have been friends since the 1990s." Bush called Palmeiro after his 500th home run in 2003 and again after his 3,000th hit last month, this time inviting him to dinner at the White House.