Jenna Bush Hager, daughter of former President George W. Bush, defended her dad’s friendship with TV personality Ellen DeGeneres.
Bush Hager opened up about DeGeneres and Bush’s unlikely friendship in an interview published Tuesday by People magazine.
Laura & George Bush sitting with Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi is not something I expected to see at an NFL game pic.twitter.com/AbWbhXd3RC
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) October 6, 2019
DeGeneres and the former Republican president made headlines after the pair were spotted sitting next to each other at a Dallas Cowboys game on Oct. 8. It shocked people because “a gay Hollywood liberal sitting next to a conservative Republican president,” as DeGeneres said when addressing the moment.
“I personally, and I think so many of us, miss a time where people who have different opinions get along,” Bush Hager told People. “And I yearn for that. I want my kids to realize that we live in a world when people are think tons of different things and we treat everybody with respect and kindness.” (RELATED: Ellen DeGeneres Shares A Message Of Unity After Being Spotted At Dallas Cowboys Game With George W. Bush)
“And so just like Ellen, my dad does that,” she continued. “And if you ask anybody that’s worked for him or knows him, plenty of the people that worked for him have different opinions or different lifestyles, thought different things and felt comfortable sharing that with him because he’s open.”
“I personally thought it was great,” Bush Hager added.
DeGeneres also defended her friendship with Bush on her talk show that same week.
“I’m friends with George Bush,” she admitted. “In fact, I’m friends with a lot of people who don’t share the same beliefs that I have.”
“We’re all different, and I think we’ve forgotten that that’s okay that we’re all different,” DeGeneres added.