‘Today’s Jenna Bush Hager Recalls Getting ‘Busted’ by Her Mom on a Banned Date

While Jenna Bush Hager has shared several memories from her time in the White House, her latest on-air story was from before her time as a first daughter.

Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones chatted about their first cars during the Tuesday, August 18, episode of Today With Jenna & Sheinelle. Noting that she and her twin sister, Barbara Bush, once shared a Jeep Cherokee, Bush Hager recalled how their parents banned them from going on “car dates” in their early high school days.

“For just a minute, they said, ‘No car dates.’ And then, I went to the football game with a boy. [It was] freshman year, like, right away. 15, right in,” Bush Hager shared. “But I didn’t drive with him. I got dropped off to meet him. But then, I got in his car to go around — I don’t really remember. Maybe we were bored at the game, and we were gonna go get a bite to eat.”

Breaking her parents’ rules didn’t work out in Bush Hager’s favor. “I got in the car, and I looked over at the red light, and my mom [Laura Bush] was sitting with my godmother and my godfather,” she revealed. “And they just rolled down the window and go, ‘Busted!’ and rolled it back up.”

Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank

Jones remarked, “That is like something out of a movie.” Bush Hager added, “Austin used to be that type of town. They were, like, going out to dinner. It was, like, seven o’clock. And they rolled down the window, and I was like, ‘Oh, no!’”

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Bush Hager went to high school in Austin, Texas. She was 19 years old when her father, George W. Bush, began his first term as the president of the United States. Bush Hager attended the University of Texas at Austin during her father’s presidency and was 27 when his two terms ended. (Bush Hager is also the granddaughter of the late former president George H.W. Bush and first lady Barbara Bush.)

Bush Hager’s experiences in the White House lent themselves to her role as an executive producer on the upcoming NBC drama Line of Fire. The series, which premieres next month, follows a family of law officials in the FBI, Secret Service, Department of Justice, and US Marshals. “After a seemingly cut-and-dry case turns into a deadly conspiracy, they must use the expertise from a lifetime of protecting civilians and politicians to protect one another and bring the killer to justice … even if it means betraying their sworn code,” the show’s official description reads.

Bush Hager first teased the show on the January 14 episode of Jenna & Sheinelle. “Who knew I would ever do something like this, ladies and gentlemen? It’s about different levels of law enforcement, some based on [the] Secret Service. So, y’all know I know about that,” she shared at the time. “And it’s a mystery, and I joined all the pitches because every time, to watch these sometimes jaded executives’ — not all of you — faces drop with the twist, the twist is so good.”

NBC

Line of Fire stars Peter Krause, Hope Davis, Kat Cunning, Tommy O’Brien, Taylor Bloom, and Charlie Barnett. Krause celebrated the show being picked up for a full season on the May 12 episode of Today. “It’s a fantastic family-centered show which is an action thriller,” he stated. “And the writer, Josh Safran, brings a lot of family dynamics to it: the good, the bad, the ugly, the funny, the sexy. It’s a very interesting, unusual show.”

Today With Jenna & Sheinelle, Weekdays, 10 am, NBC

Line of Fire, Series Premiere, Monday, September 21, 10/9c, NBC