Jenna Bush Says Being the Butt of Comedians’ Jokes Is Part of A Politician’s Job

Jenna Bush knows what it’s like to be ridiculed on national TV. She and her dad, President George W. Bush, were the subject of an SNL sketch after she got busted for underage drinking. There are worse things than getting spoofed by Julia Stiles, but Will Ferrell lets her dad have it, as always. 

“We laughed hysterically at some of it,” Bush said this week on Today with Jenna and Friends. “You can’t take yourself so seriously.”

Maybe it helps that she grew up in a family that was a frequent target of political satire, with SNL’s Dana Carvey taking regular shots at her grandfather, the first President Bush.

“I remember reading stuff about him where I was like, ‘Oh gosh,’ like as a little kid, and, ‘That hurts and that’s not the man that I know,’” she said. But at that early age, she learned that comedy sketches come with the position. “That’s part of the job.” 

It’s shocking to believe, given today’s political climate, but the elder Bush appreciated the sketches and even befriended Carvey. “After he lost (the 1992 election to Bill Clinton), my grandfather was devastated. He didn't feel like he finished the job. He felt like he let down his staff,” she remembered. “He had Dana come to the White House to make fun of him after he lost so he could cheer up his staff who were disappointed upon the results.”

Jenna Bush made her remarks in light of Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late night this week after being suspended for political jokes. She applauded both Kimmel’s reinstatement and the way he handled his monologue on Tuesday night. “I thought that that was beautifully done,” she said.

Unlike her father and grandfather, President Trump hasn’t befriended the comics who feature him in their punchlines. As Joe Rogan noted on his podcast this week, the president spends an inordinate amount of time complaining about Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and Saturday Night Live. While Trump usually gripes about the comics’ low ratings and lack of talent, it’s clear his real problem is being the butt of their jokes.

But Jenna Bush emphasized the importance of free speech, drawing attention to one of Kimmel’s main points in his monologue. “When he said, ‘A show like this that can make jokes at people in power,’ that’s part of what our country is founded on,” she argued.

The return of Jimmy Kimmel Live! is a step in the right direction. “I long for a country where — and I feel like we can get back there — but where people that have different opinions sit at the same table and have conversations.”