‘Today’: George W. Bush Cracks Up Jenna & Sheinelle During Surprise Live Phone Call
What To Know
- On Today With Jenna & Sheinelle, Jenna Bush Hager rewatched the moment she called George W. Bush during a 2007 episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
- Sheinelle Jones prompted Bush Hager to call her father live on Today.
- The former president made the co-hosts laugh by using the call to promote his new project and calling Jones by the wrong first name.
The Thursday, September 17, episode of Today With Jenna & Sheinelle featured a surprise celebrity cameo.
Sheinelle Jones kicked off the episode by discussing a resurfaced clip of Jenna Bush Hager on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2007, during which host Ellen DeGeneres had her call her father, George W. Bush, on the show.
“Could you just pick up the phone right now and call him?” DeGeneres asked during the pair’s interview. After Bush Hager replied, ‘Sure,’ DeGeneres surprised her with a landline to call her dad. “He’s gonna kill me, though.”
Bush Hager’s mom, Laura Bush, answered the phone before handing it over to the then-president. “We just wanted to say Merry Christmas, and we thought you’d want to say Merry Christmas to our audience, DeGeneres said to Bush, who replied, “I do want to say Merry Christmas to your audience, and I want to tell my little girl I love her.”
After watching the clip on Jenna & Sheinelle, Bush Hager clarified that the on-air moment was spontaneous, and that she was nervous about accidentally revealing her dad’s phone number on TV. “I kept prefacing it that I was calling them on the spot because I love my parents, and I didn’t want them to be, like, ‘Who’s Ellen?’” she noted. “He was president of the United States. It could have been a thing.”
Jones, who recalled watching Bush Hager’s Ellen interview in real-time, went on to ask, “So, now that it’s your show, it’s our show, can we call him again?”
Though Bush Hager was initially hesitant, she agreed, and a crew member handed over her cellphone. “Hi, Daddy! Dad, you’re on TV, Dad. You’re on TV,” she said as her father answered the call. He jokingly responded, “I’ve been trying to avoid that.”
The phone call marked the first time Bush had met Jones. Bush Hager informed him of his connection to Sheinelle, as Bush appointed her father, C. Darnell Jones II, as a federal judge. “You gotta be kidding me! That’s fantastic. He had to be a good man,” Bush remarked.
Bush went on to use the surprise phone call as a chance to promote his latest project. “I’m glad you called because, I don’t know if you know this or not, but I’ve got a book coming out next [year],” he said as Bush Hager and Sheinelle burst into laughter. “The Call of Freedom is the name of it, and as a result of me taking this call, I’m hopeful I can convince you to help me sell the book.”
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When asked if he would come on Jenna & Sheinelle to promote the book in person, Bush quipped, “I would doubt that.”
Bush wrapped up the call by sharing more kind words about Sheinelle, despite accidentally calling her Michelle earlier in the call. “Sheinelle, thank you for being such good friends with Jenna, and I wish you girls all the best,” he said. She returned his compliments by stating, “Thank you for being a good dad to Jenna. I know you guys have a beautiful relationship, and I just think you’re a good man.”
Bush Hager told her dad she loved him before hanging up.
Today With Jenna & Sheinelle, Weekdays, 10 am, NBC
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