Transcript for May 7

MR. BRIDGES: Well, the first time we got to meet the president, he did kind of mention in passing, “We’re going to do something. We’re going to, you know, just going to do something,” you know? And just—I think it was in the back of his mind. And then we got a call saying, “Hey, you know, we”—from the White House saying, “Hey, we’re going to—we got something we’re going to do.” So—look, I’m starting to sound like the president even when I talk like myself. This is, this is fun. So that’s really how it came about, yeah.

MR. RUSSERT: Let me show you the real Steve Bridges, we’ll put him up on the screen. This is what he really looks like. Two and a half hours of makeup to get you ready for this role.

MR. BRIDGES: Yeah. Makeup artist Kevin Haney is the one who designed everything, and he’s the one who put it together and crafts it and put it on this morning. And it’s, it’s great. It’s an amazing makeup. It’s a lot of fun, too. This is a kick.

MR. RUSSERT: Now how long did you rehearse with the president?

MR. BRIDGES: I—you know, I’d say a little under 30 minutes or so. We ran through it a few times. In fact, we were, we were rehearsing and I threw in that toga, toga line and I kind of looked at him like, “Eh?” And he goes, “Yeah, go for it, man, let’s have some fun. Let’s do it.” So, so we went for it.

MR. RUSSERT: How aware are you as a comedian of the line that you should cross or shouldn’t cross in terms of the president of the United States?

MR. BRIDGES: Well, for me the, the, the object that I have is one to make people laugh and, and obviously my, my political humor’s my niche, but I want to make people laugh and poke fun at people without being mean. I think that’s the main thing. You know, I mean obviously, I’m making fun of the president, right? But I don’t want to be mean—or whatever character I’m doing, whether it’s Bill Clinton. We’ve got a Bill Clinton show. It’s funny. You’re poking fun at them, but it’s not mean. Or if it’s Arnold or whoever, it’s just—the idea is just to have, just to have a great time laughing. That’s really...

MR. RUSSERT: This may be a little difficult, but let me—let us hear Bill Clinton. Even though you look like George Bush, let me hear Bill Clinton.

MR. BRIDGES: I want to just say this here, a lot of people have been wondering what I’m doing on MEET THE PRESS. I’m hiding from Hillary. That’s the honest truth. I’m not saying she doesn’t watch, I’m just saying I don’t think she’s watching this morning. Oh, man!

MR. RUSSERT: And, and the governor of California, Arnold. Here you are dressed like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

MR. BRIDGES: Arnold.

MR. RUSSERT: I think we have a photo of Arnold Schwarzenegger somewhere up there. There you are.

MR. BRIDGES: Yeah, there I am, right there. See, I want to do for America what I’ve done for California. I want to be president of the United States. We’re going to get rid of the Washington Monument. It doesn’t look a thing like him. It’s ridiculous.

MR. RUSSERT: Have you been doing this all your life?

MR. BRIDGES: Yeah, yeah, since I was a little kid imitating the Three Stooges.

MR. RUSSERT: Are you Curly or Moe?

MR. BRIDGES: We fight over that one, man. Moe was, was prime property.

MR. RUSSERT: When you’re with the president and his staff is around and you start throwing lines out, do they ever jump in and say, “Hey, that’s a little too much?”

MR. BRIDGES: Trust me, I was timid. I was hamana, hamana, hamana, hamana, hamana, hamana. We had a great time, though. It was a, it was a fun rehearsal. It was really good. The president’s got a great sense of humor. He took it so well. And he’s got good timing, too, as you saw in, in the bit, so it was fun. But I left any kind of suggestions or critiques to somebody else. I just...

MR. RUSSERT: So you’re George W. Bush again and if someone started challenging you, challenging your grasp of issues, challenging your, your intelligence, challenging your ability to be president, what do you say?

MR. BRIDGES: Look, Tim, you know, I went to Yale, all right? I didn’t let it go to my head. A lot of folks like to joke about me, and I admit it, maybe I wouldn’t last too long on, on, on “Jeopardy!” But I’ll tell you right now, my predecessor Bill Clinton wouldn’t last two minutes on “Temptation Island.” I mean, there you go.

MR. RUSSERT: When people hear this, do they sometimes say, “Oh, my God, this really is the president”? Or do you walk through a studio, do people stop and say “Hello, Mr. President”?

MR. BRIDGES: You know, we do so many shows and so many events that the routine is that a lot of times it’s a surprise for the audience for the private event or the corporate thing that we’re doing, so we’ll go back through the kitchen and I mean I’ll—there’ll be people who are carrying trays and just do the—and they’ll be talking like “That’s President Bush.” And they’re pointing and I’m kind of like, “Hey, how you doing? Good to see you.”

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