Jenna Bush Hager Pokes Fun at Dad George W. Bush On-Air: 'My Dad Can't Speak English Very Well'

Jenna Bush Hager has no problem poking fun at her dad.

The former first daughter and co-host Meredith Vieira chatted about Merriam-Webster‘s addition of 640 words in the latest dictionary during a segment of Today on Wednesday — and the talk quickly turned silly.

After debating whether “wordy” was a word, Vieira said, “I do like words. I’m one of those kids — did your dad, like every night, you learned a new word in the dictionary?”

“My dad can’t speak English that well. Remember him?” Bush Hager joked of her father, former President George W. Bush. “I’m just kidding. He can. He’s hilarious.”

Bush — who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 — was teased during and after his time in the White House for often mispronouncing words and bumbling sentences.

George W. Bush and Jenna Bush Hager on her wedding day | Shealah Craighead/The White House/Getty
George W. Bush and Jenna Bush Hager on her wedding day | Shealah Craighead/The White House/Getty

Most infamously, on Nov. 6, 2000, he spoke to a crowd in Arkansas about his victory over Sen. John McCain and winning the Republican presidential nomination at the time. Bush tried to explain that his rivals had underestimated him and ended up creating his own word, according to Time.

“They misunderestimated me,” Bush said.

During a talk in August 2004, he was just as artful while challenging America’s “enemies,” according to Slate.

“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we,” he said at the time. “They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”

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Jenna Bush Hager isn’t the only one who makes jokes at her dad’s expense. The former president likes to make fun of himself.

In March 2017, on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Bush said that he never had any negative feelings about Will Ferrell’s famous impression of him on Saturday Night Live, noting that he even had a bit of fun with show creator Lorne Michaels over the bits.

“Wanna hear something terrible? So, I had dinner with Lorne Michaels … he said, ‘I put a great speech writer on you and he came up with strategery,’ ” Bush recalled, referring to the made-up word Ferrell used in a 2000 sketch to poke fun at the then-presidential candidate.

“I said, ‘Wait a minute, I said strategery!’ ” Bush continued, noting that Michaels disputed his claim. “I said, ‘I damn sure said strategery!’ “