Jenna Bush Hager Tells Life-Changing Story About Her Dad George W. Bush That's 'Been Weighing on My Conscience'

Jenna Bush Hager made a surprising admission on a recent episode of Today With Hoda and Jenna—easing her heavy conscience in the process.

Bush Hager was discussing Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s latest book with guest host Sheinelle Jones when she revealed that she wasn't particularly supportive when her father, George W. Bush, told her he would be running for president.

"She has a story, and I'll just go ahead and tell you before she gets here because it's been weighing on my conscience," Bush Hager said before Jackson's appearance.

“[Jackson] writes about when she was on President Obama’s short list to become a possible Supreme Court judge. She and her husband sat their daughters down and said, ‘Listen, this is going to change your life and I just want to make sure…,’” Bush Hager said.

“That you guys are okay with it, because everybody goes into a deep dive about their family, and privacy," Jones interjected.

“Yes! ‘And I want to make sure I have your support.’ And they said, ‘Yes, mom. This has been your dream, you’ve manifested this. We believe in you,'" Bush Hager continued.

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“'Well, I have a similar story...unfortunately, when I was 16, my father sat my sister and I down and said, ‘Now listen, we really want your support, I’d like to run for president.’ [Barbara and I] broke down in tears," she revealed, referring to her twin sister, Barbara Pierce Bush.

“As only twins can do, we cried in unison,” she added. “We said, 'No!' We said, ‘You’re going to ruin our lives, Dad.’ And then we said, ‘And even if you run, you’re going to lose!’ ”

"Well that didn’t happen," Jones said.

“Well…came close," Bush Hager joked. "But anyway, we went after him, and since then as an adult, we publicly apologized. That was horrible.”

In 2023, Bush Hager told People that “everything changed” when her father was elected president, and she and her sister “just wanted to be normal college kids."

"I had parents that really supported us and never made us feel bad about mistakes that we made," she said. "But yeah, it wasn't easy. And yet I'm so thankful for all of it."

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