Saturday Night Live legend Will Ferrell returned to the NBC variety show as host and reprised his famous bumbling caricature of former President George W. Bush.
Using mispronunciations and verbal gaffes for which he was famous, Ferrell’s Bush reminded the audience that even though many Americans pine for the days of the 43rd president, ‘Don’t forget, I was really bad.’
‘I just want to remind you guys that I was bad… like, historically not good!’ the former president said in the skit.
‘Remember, we’re still in two different wars that I started.’
Bush’s presidency was marred by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the Great Recession.
Saturday Night Live legend Will Ferrell returned to the NBC variety show as host and reprised his famous bumbling caricature of former President George W. Bush
Using mispronunciations and verbal gaffes for which he was famous, Ferrell’s Bush reminded the audience that even though many Americans pine for the days of the 43rd president, ‘Don’t forget, I was really bad’
‘According to a new poll, my approval rating is at an all-time high,’ the fake Bush said in the skit.
But he then brought everyone back to reality.
‘What has two thumbs and created ISIS? This guy,’ he said, pointing at himself.
The cold open started with Bush addressing the nation from a desk that looked like the one in the Oval Office.
The six-minute skit made reference to a number of tropes from popular culture during his presidency which began nearly two decades ago.
‘It is I, George W. Bush, and you might remember that the ‘W’ stands for “Wassup?”’ he said, a reference to the popular Budweiser beer commercial.
‘I know what you’re thinking,’ he said. ‘What is this handsome devil doing back in the Oval Office?
‘The truth is this is just the set. I had it built in my basement in Texas so I could pretend to be president sometimes.’
Bush then pulls out a Super Soaker water gun, the popular toy from the era of his presidency.
He joked that he shoots the water gun just like a retired cop shoots his gun into the woods.
‘I’ve been trying to drink more water and this makes it fun,’ Bush said of his water gun.
Ferrell then did his signature Bush laugh, drawing a roar of applause from the live studio audience.
Ferrell then poked fun at the stereotype of Bush as an ignorant person.
‘I don’t know if you’ve read the news lately,’ he said. ‘I certainly have not.’
Bush said he was too busy with his oil paintings and that he was earning his ‘MFA from the University of Phoenix online’
Bush said he was too busy with his oil paintings and that he was earning his ‘MFA from the University of Phoenix online.’
He then notes that ‘Donald Q. Trump came in and suddenly I’m looking pretty sweet by comparison.’
‘According to a new poll, my approval rating is at an all-time high. At this rate, I may show up on Mount Rushmore next to Washington, Lincoln, and I wanna say… Kensington?
‘The point is I’m suddenly popular AF,’ Bush says, using the initials for ‘as f***’ which is slang used by millennials on social media and in text messages.
‘A lot of people are saying, “Man, I wish George W. Bush was still our president right about now”,’ he said.
‘I just wanted to address my fellow Americans tonight and remind you guys that I was really bad.
‘Like, historically not good.’
Bush then says he ‘gets why you don’t like this current guy’ and that he ‘voted for Jill Stein all the way.’
Then he warns: ‘Please do not look back at my presidency and think “this is how we do it”.’
This is How We Do It was a 1995 R&B hit by Montell Jordan. When Ferrell’s Bush said, he broke into the song.
Bush displays the graph showing the stock market tanking between 2007 and 2008 – with the sound effect indicating a steep drop
He then reminded the audience that America is still embroiled in the two wars that he started, one of which led to the creation of ISIS.
‘Who has two thumbs and created ISIS? This guy,’ Bush said, pointing at himself with two thumbs.
‘At least the stock market’s doing well now. You ever seen a graph of the stock market during my presidency?
‘It’s the only graph that comes with its own slide whistle sound effect.’
Bush then displays the graph showing the stock market tanking between 2007 and 2008 – with the sound effect indicating a steep drop.
When Bush mentioned that the Dow Jones Industrial Average was over 26,000, he added: ‘I had you guys down to a cool 8K.’
He then adds: ‘Now I’m no economer, but even I know that was no bueno.’
Bush then compares his vice president, Dick Cheney, with the current VP, Mike Pence.
‘I’ve heard some complaints about Mike Pence, but if you knew half the stuff old Cheney was up to, you’d take “no cakes for gays” in a heartbeat.
‘Some say Mike Pence is heartless, but remember that Dick Cheney was literally heartless,’ he said.
That was a reference to the chronic heart problems that Cheney suffered from.
‘At this point, it’s just legos in there,’ Bush joked of Cheney’s health while pointing to his chest.
Then Bush quipped about Trump’s hatred for the media, recalling the incident in which an Iraqi reporter hurled a shoe at the real president during a news conference in Baghdad.
‘He took it off his foot and lobbed it straight at my noggin,’ Bush said.
‘Then he gathered himself, took off the other one, and tried it again.
When Bush mentions that he still gets along with people in his cabinet, Leslie Jones walks into the office playing Condoleezza Rice, who was secretary of state during his presidency
Bush and Rice then sing a duet with altered lyrics to the tune of Those Were The Days, the theme song from the hit 1970s sitcom All In The Family
‘Boy the way the game was played, everybody knew their place, Cheney shot a guy in the face, those were the days,’ they song in the first refrain
‘But you know what they say. Shoe me once, shoes on you. Shoe me twice, I’m keeping those shoes.’
Bush then added while he’s ‘not a Trump synthesizer’, the two men have a lot in common.
‘We’re both the exact same age even though I was president like 40 years ago,’ he said.
‘We both won the election despite losing the popular vote, though back in my day we didn’t let Russians rig our elections.
‘We used the Supreme Court like Americans.’
That was a reference to Bush’s 2000 victory over Al Gore, which was cemented after the Supreme Court rejected an effort to do a recount of the contested vote count in Florida.
Bush then mentioned that unlike Trump, ‘I have friends, people that actually like me.’
‘Have you read this new book Fire and Furbys?’ Bush asks, even though the actual title of the book is Fire and Fury.
When Bush mentions that he still gets along with people in his cabinet, Leslie Jones walks into the office playing Condoleezza Rice, who was secretary of state during his presidency.
Bush and Rice then sing a duet with altered lyrics to the tune of Those Were The Days, the theme song from the hit 1970s sitcom All In The Family.
‘Boy the way the game was played, everybody knew their place, Cheney shot a guy in the face, those were the days,’ they song in the first refrain.
Weekend Update took aim at Trump. Co-anchor Colin Jost noted that when Trump reportedly tried to have Special Counsel Robert Mueller fired from the Russia investigation, he ‘obstructed justice in an obstruction of justice investigation’
‘The housing market went to hell, Nazis kept it to themselves, bin Laden was alive and well, those were the days.’
Weekend Update took aim at Trump.
Co-anchor Colin Jost noted that when Trump reportedly tried to have Special Counsel Robert Mueller fired from the Russia investigation, he ‘obstructed justice in an obstruction of justice investigation.’
‘It’s like getting pulled over for drunk driving and then challenging the cop to a keg stand,’ he quipped.
Jost’s partner, Michael Che, then mocked Trump over a report that his lawyer told him the Russia investigation was soon winding down because the president needed to be calmed down.
‘What do you mean “calm him down”?’ Che asked rhetorically. ‘You shouldn’t have to do that to a president.
‘That’s what you do to a dog during a fireworks display.’