This week, President George W. Bush appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to talk Oscars faux pas, Texas, Beyonce, Saturday Night Live and more. Jimmy Kimmel took the opportunity to ask the former president if he was ever offended by SNL and specifically Will Ferrell's impression of him during his time in the office, and George W. Bush had the following to say:
No, not at all... I love humor. And the best humor's when you make fun of yourself.
If you've been keeping tabs on SNL over the years, you should know that the long-running NBC series has had a long tradition of poking fun at politicians while they are in the office. While Donald Trump has not seemed so keen on SNL doing impressions of him, George Bush doesn't seem to have minded the fact that comedians had takes on him during his time in office, although he told Jimmy Kimmel that Will Ferrell and Will Forte's SNL impressions were honestly not his favorite. Instead he rather liked Steve Bridges, who did an impression at a White House Correspondents dinner and on a few other occasions.
Still, George W. Bush does seem to understand that Saturday Night Live has had a big effect on the way the world viewed him during his time as president. In fact, he told a hilarious story about a conversation he once had with SNL producer Lorne Michaels about words the show made up and words Bush actually made up. It's honestly kind-of funny how influential the sketch comedy series has been.
I had dinner with Lorne Michaels, the head of Saturday Night Live and he said I put a great speechwriter on you and he came up with strategory. And I said, 'Wait a minute, I said strategory.' And he said, 'No you didn't say strategory.' I said, 'I damn sure said strategory!' [Michaels] said, 'We invented it.' I said, 'Let me ask you this: Did you come up with misunderestimate?'
Clearly SNL can have an effect on the public's perception of a person. Some people take this with good humor, as George W. Bush seems to have done, and others do not seem to enjoy impressions of themselves at all. Even with the current administration, there have been varying opinions related to Saturday Night Live. Donald Trump has seemed to really dislike what the comedy series has been doing with Alec Baldwin, but the people surrounding him in office, including KellyAnne Conway and Sean Spicer, have taken their impressions with a little more good humor.
No matter the response, SNL is unlikely to stop what the show is doing. New episodes of the long-running sketch comedy series are still airing on weekends, and you can find out which hosts are coming up with our hosting guide.
