Fox News host Jesse Watters wasted no time welcoming the network’s newest hire, Billy Bush, joking that the new contributor’s cable news job puts him one step closer to landing a role in the Trump administration.
Bush made his debut Tuesday on “Jesse Watters Primetime,” where Watters playfully needled him about a possible future in Trumpworld.
Bush was quick to play along. He floated the Department of the Interior, currently led by Doug Burgum, as a possible landing spot. He then joked about the White House press secretary job, following Karoline Leavitt’s recent departure from the role.
The lighthearted exchange carried an unmistakable historical twist for Bush, whose career was upended in 2016 by the release of the infamous 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape. The recording featured Bush laughing along with President Donald Trump as the then-future president made lewd remarks on a hot mic.
The public leak of the previously unreleased recording cost Bush his job at NBC’s “Today.” Trump, meanwhile, weathered the political firestorm and went on to win the presidency.
At the time of the 2005 recording, Bush was working for “Access Hollywood” and accompanied Trump, who was then the host of NBC’s “The Apprentice.” On the tape, Trump could be heard telling Bush, “When you’re a star… you can do anything. Grab ’em by the p*ssy.” Bush laughed along during the exchange.
The previously unaired footage surfaced in October 2016, just weeks before Trump faced off against Hillary Clinton in the presidential election.
The fallout for the two men could not have been more different. Bush, then a co-host of “Today,” lost his job in the aftermath. Trump apologized for the remarks but remained the Republican nominee and ultimately won the White House.
Bush, the nephew of former President George H.W. Bush and cousin of former President George W. Bush, later apologized for his part in the conversation. He said he was “embarrassed and ashamed” and that he had been “younger, less mature, and acted foolishly in playing along.”
In 2020, Bush described the encounter as an “ugly moment.” However, he said he did not remember hearing Trump’s most notorious remark when the conversation originally took place.
Now, roughly a decade after the tape derailed his television career, Bush has found a new home at Fox News as a contributor. His first appearance on Watters’ primetime program made clear that he is willing to have some fun with the unusual path his career has taken.
The banter between Watters and Bush, centered on the idea of Bush joining the very administration led by the man whose recorded remarks once cost him his job, highlighted just how much has changed since that October 2016 bombshell.
For Bush, the debut marks a return to the national television spotlight. And judging by his willingness to joke about positions ranging from the Interior Department to the White House briefing room podium, he appears ready to embrace his new role with a sense of humor.