David Gregory: Bush Told Me 'I Never Watch You'

September 13th, 2012 10:21 AM

Former President George W. Bush recently told Meet the Press host David Gregory, "I never watch you."

So humorously said Gregory on NBC's Late Night Wednesday (video follows with transcript and commentary):

JIMMY FALLON: Where's my man George W. Bush?

DAVID GREGORY: President Bush has decided that, you know, eight years was enough and he's…

FALLON: He's hiding out?

GREGORY: No, I mean, he's done. He's done. And I, you know, I was at a dinner recently with Presidents Clinton and Bush. And I'd covered Bush for eight years. And I saw him and we were at dinner there.

And he looked over at me and he said, [As George W. Bush] “Gregory," he said, "I don't watch you." [Laughter] And I said…

FALLON: That's a great impression.

GREGORY: So I said, I said, "What do you mean?"

FALLON: [As George W. Bush] "I don't watch you."

GREGORY: No, no, no. He said [As George W. Bush] "I never watch you." And I said, “Mr. President, weren't you concerned at all about how I was progressing?" He said, [As George W. Bush] "No, no, I wasn't worried about whether you were gonna progress."

FALLON: Really? Is that what he said?

GREGORY: Yeah.

FALLON: [As George W. Bush ] "Yeah, I know you gonna do good."

GREGORY: So I felt a little wounded, frankly.


Unfortunately for Gregory, Bush isn't the only American skipping Meet the Press since he took over for the late Tim Russert.

In June, the program's ratings hit 20-year lows.