Jenna Bush Hager didn’t hold back when sharing what her father, former President George W. Bush, 79, really thinks about Today with Jenna & Friends.
Bush Hager, 43, admitted on Wednesday that she had asked Bush to appear on her show, but she said he refused, telling her, “‘I don’t watch your dumb show.’”
How long did President George W. Bush prepare for the ManningCast?
“About 10 minutes.” 😂 pic.twitter.com/dALkYVTtwq— Omaha Productions (@OmahaProd) November 18, 2025
Today co-host Carson Daly kicked off the conversation by asking the former first daughter to “shine some light’ on Bush’s Monday appearance on Peyton and Eli Manning’s podcast, ManningCast.
“Was he fully aware of the exposure he was getting on that?” he asked.
Bush Hager explained, “he did it from the comfort of his own art studio” since the interview with the former NFL brothers was via Zoom.
But she added that she was “surprised as anyone to see him” on the show since “he said he was retired.”
“I’ve actually asked him, and maybe I’ll do a public ask for him to come and be a ‘friend’ since he’s my father,” Bush Hager said.
Co-host Savannah Guthrie added that it could be difficult for the 79-year-old to make the trip to the show’s studio in New York City.
“Why don’t you go to Texas and do the show from there?” Al Roker suggested.
Bush Hager brought up budget concerns, but co-host Craig Melvin dismissed them.
“I feel like for a former president we could find it,” he said.
“Okay, I’m sure he’ll still say no. He says things like, ‘I don’t watch your dumb show,’” Bush Hager said, prompting laughs from the co-hosts.
Even though the 43rd president didn’t appear as a “friend” on her show, he spoke to her on the Today show in 2017 and in a 2018 segment with his father, former President George H. W. Bush.
Then again, in 2021, he appeared on a special immigration-themed segment of Today with Hoda & Jenna.
However, some of Bush Hager’s other family members have joined her on her show as “friends,” including her husband, Henry Hager, twin sister, Barbara Bush Pierce, and her mother, former First Lady Laura Bush.
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