‘Stunned’ George W. Bush Crashed Car After Laura Dissed His Speech

A young George W. Bush was apparently so rattled by his wife’s brutal honesty about a subpar speech that he accidentally crashed their car.

That’s according to Jenna Bush Hager, who had the Today show crew in stitches on Wednesday when she shared the hilarious bit of family lore.

“It’s funny that you bring up speeches because when my parents were first married, my dad gave a speech in Midland, Texas, and they were driving up and he thought [that was] pretty good. And he said, ‘Laura, how do you think I did?’” she said.

“And she sort of stalled because my mom is not confrontational, and she just said, ‘It wasn’t very good. It wasn’t.’ And he drove the car into the garage!”

The anecdote came up while Bush Hager and co-host Hoda Kotb were discussing how to give constructive criticism in relationships

“I guess he hit the wall—we should get the details—but he was so stunned by the honesty that he wasn’t paying attention… I think he was looking at her and then he crashed,” Bush Hager recalled. “I think my dad was just starting so he probably didn’t know the difference. They were very young, they had just gotten married.”

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