Jenna Bush Hager recounts the devastating reaction of her and her twin sister Barbara when their father George W. told them that he was running for president

Jenna Bush Hager has admitted that she and her twin sister Barbara “burst into tears” when their father George W. told them that he had decided to run for President of the United States of America.

On Tuesday's episode of “Today with Hoda & Jenna,” substitute host Sheinelle Jones was discussing her next guest, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and her new memoir, when Jenna, 42, decided to tell the anecdote.

“She has a story, and I'm just going to tell it to you before she gets here because it's on my conscience,” Jenna told Sheinelle, 46.

She writes about how, when she was on President Obama's short list for a possible Supreme Court justice, she and her husband sat down with their daughters – she has two daughters – and said, “Now listen to me, this is going to change your life and I want to make sure you're OK with it.” And they said, “Yes, Mom, this was your dream, we believe in you.”

She continued, “Well, I have a similar story… unfortunately, when I was 16, my dad sat down with my sister and me and said, 'Now listen, we really need your support. I would like to run for president.'”

Jenna here with her twin sister Barbara and her parents George W. and Laura in 1997

Her co-host Sheinelle then asked, “What did you say?” Jenna revealed, “We burst into tears! As only twins can, we cried in unison! We said, 'No, 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,” Sheinelle replied, while Jenna joked, “Well, it was almost that! Anyway, we went after him and have since publicly apologized as adults. It was awful.”

Of course, George W. won the election in November 2000 and was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009.

Naturally, there was a lot of interest in the personal lives of Jenna and her siblings, and in 2001, the twins were famously caught drinking alcohol while underage during their freshman year of college, just months after their father was sworn in.

The twins both spoke openly about being caught drinking while underage, even writing about it in their 2017 memoir, Sisters First.

Jenna was a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin when she was first stopped by police for drinking beer at a club in April 2001. That same month, she pleaded no contest to a charge of possession of alcohol while underage.

She was ordered to pay $51.25 in court costs, complete eight hours of community service and attend an alcohol education class.

The following month, Barbara, a student at Yale University, was visiting Jenna in Austin when they were arrested for trying to buy alcohol at Chuy's, a Mexican restaurant chain.

The family of four arriving at the White House in November 2004 during the administration of George Bush

Jenna and Barbara, pictured here in 1997, were caught drinking alcohol while underage during their first year of college.

Jenna leaving the White House with her father in July 2004

The restaurant's manager had previously notified authorities and reported that a group of people who did not look 21 had ordered alcoholic beverages.

Barbara had already been served by the time police arrived and was charged with possession of alcohol as a minor. Jenna was turned away because she was able to present identification of another person of legal age.

The incident earned the two covers of weekly magazines.

Jenna recalled on the Today show in 2022 that her father finally apologized to her and her sister after telling them, the First Daughters, they could be “normal” in college.

“The fact that we thought we could do this speaks to how [our parents] said, “Oh, you can be normal, it's OK,” she said, admitting that it was “stupid” of her and her sister as underage public figures.

“When I called my dad to say, 'I'm really sorry… I got that ticket for drinking alcohol while underage,' he said, 'No, I'm sorry.'”

“We have embarrassed [our parents]but they would never say that. He said, “I'm sorry, I told you [that] you can be normal and you can't. You can't order margaritas.”'