Michelle Obama Asks Jenna Bush Hager About Her BFF George W. Bush: ‘Is He Behaving Himself?’

Michelle Obama couldn’t visit Jenna Bush Hager’s talk show without asking about her longtime friend, former President George W. Bush.

The 61-year-old former first lady has often been seen sharing laughs and hugs with the 79-year-old former president at official events over the years.

“We have a relationship, but there probably is no more beloved relationship than you and my dad. People long for that,” Bush Hager told Obama during the Tuesday, Nov. 4 episode of Today with Jenna & Friends, where Obama promoted her new book, The Look.

“How is he doing?” Obama asked about Bush Hager’s father.

“He’s doing great!” Bush Hager replied warmly.

Reflecting on a memorable moment between them, Bush Hager joked about a 2016 photo showing Obama embracing her dad at the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. “Doesn’t it look like you’re about to read him a bedtime story?” she teased.

Obama laughed, adding, “That’s how he makes me feel when we’re together — that I want to just hug him up. He keeps me entertained when we’re seated together.”

Bush Hager then shared that she and her family had recently run into Barack Obama, where her father continued the good-natured friendship banter. “My dad was like, ‘How’s my girlfriend?’ as he walked off. You know he misses you,” she said. “He can’t wait to see you again.”

Michelle smiled and asked, “Is he behaving himself?”

“No, he’s not,” Bush Hager replied with a grin.

“That’s good — I’m glad about that,” Obama joked back.

Bush Hager called her dad a “meme maker,” even though he doesn’t actually know “what a meme is.” Michelle agreed, laughing, “Even behind the scenes. He’s a living, breathing meme.”

Earlier in the conversation, Obama also took a moment to wish former first lady Laura Bush a happy birthday. “First and foremost, to Laura — happy birthday, you are a rockstar. Look what you did!” she said, gesturing to Bush Hager. “Ran a country, ‘cause you know the women do it.”

Bush Hager joined in: “And raised girls, and raised two wild twins, how’d she do it?” she asked, referring to herself and her twin sister, Barbara Bush Pierce.

Bush Hager has often spoken about her father’s friendship with Obama, previously describing it as a “love language.” In a May 14 episode of Today with Jenna & Friends, she reflected on Obama’s appearance on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast, saying that both her dad and Michelle share a similar sense of humor.

“We love to tease my dad. And he likes it — usually, if he’s in a good mood,” Bush Hager said. “But also, I just realized why my dad and Mrs. Obama are friends! They have the same love language.”