Jenna Bush Hager talks about 'sisterhood' with Obama girls and Chelsea Clinton: 'We reach out to each other'
George and Laura Bush's daughter Jenna Bush Hager recently opened up about the 'sisterhood' she has with other former first daughters and how her father felt about Jenna when a picture of her went viral in 2004, where she was seen sticking her tongue out at reporters.
Jenna appeared on 'Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen' on September 15 and during the show, host Andy Cohen asked her if she has a relationship with Chelsea Clinton, 40, as well as Malia, 22, and Sasha Obama, 19. "We really do, in some ways. We reach out to each other," she said. "Chelsea and I see each other around — well, we used to. Now, I don’t see anybody. But we used to see each other around New York City. And I reach out to the Obama girls and vice versa. But we do," she said. "There is a sisterhood because it’s so few of us that we know what it’s like and the beauty of it and living history and also some of the difficulties," she added. When asked if she knew Amy Carter, she said, "I met Amy Carter once. I did a show on Christmas at the White House and I got to meet her. But, no, I don't know her that well. I really don't. I should reach out."
The Bush family called the White House their home from 2001 to 2009, though Jenna and her twin sister Barbara were away at college or living elsewhere throughout most of their father George W Bush's presidency. However, the Bush twins have spent plenty of time at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue when their grandfather George HW Bush was president from 1989 to 1993.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama previously opened up about her relationship with the Bush sisters during their term in the White House in an interview with Good Morning America in 2018 and said, "I love those girls. I will love them forever for what kind of support they provided to my daughters throughout that."
Jenna then talked about how her father reacted when she famously got caught sticking her tongue out at reporters during his 2004 elections. "I was with my dad and my sister, and I was like, people don't even know what's going on in here, like watch this," she recalled. "And Barbara and I constantly harassed (my father) and tried to make him laugh, and then I was down in the hotel gym doing the elliptical and I looked up on the TV and there was like my little face with a spotlight on it, and it was on the local news. I was like, 'Oh no, I better get back up to the hotel room and tell Dad that this thing went out.' My dad was just like, 'Jen, this is so typical.' He thought it was funny. I think he really wanted Barbara and I to have normal childhoods, and we did until he became president."
The 38-year-old is currently working as a co-host of NBC's 'Today with Hoda & Jenna'. In 2007, she authored the book, 'Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope' which included her experiences working with UNICEF. She met Henry Chase Hager in 2004 and the couple tied the knot on May 10, 2010, at her parents' Prairie Chapel Ranch near Crawford, Texas.