Feel the burn: Former president reminds Matt Lauer of those long-ago days when he still mattered

A short clip of Matt Lauer interviewing former President George W. Bush in February is making the rounds of social media, but we’ll go ahead and spoil the ending for those who can’t play the clip out loud or are triggered by the omnipresent smugness in Lauer’s voice.

As the interview turned to the current challenge of unifying the country, Bush wasn’t shy about the influence of new media on politics since his time in office, when broadcast network personalities like Lauer “mattered a lot more.”

Bush: "When I was President you mattered a lot more."
????

— Dave Herculon (@DaveEverlasting) March 8, 2017

Hahahahahaha! Brilliant. #ouch
pic.twitter.com/VQltAMGqdL

— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) March 7, 2017

OHHHHHHHHH ouch!

— T☮M (@thomasdfournier) March 8, 2017

@kris_sims @EvanLSolomon Gold from Dubya

— Roger (@rogergumley) March 7, 2017

strangely enough the American media didn't promote this part of the clip https://t.co/0xC98rbPs8

— Ursus, Director of Weather and Banana Programming (@AceofSpadesHQ) March 8, 2017

Oh snap.

— Lt. Colonel Lucky Peter (@spongeworthy2) March 8, 2017

https://twitter.com/siftyboones/status/839292849795522560

That was amazing.

— John Q. MAGA (@maybeMAGA) March 8, 2017

Good ol' George, gotta love him.

— jenifer (@TXBINKY) March 7, 2017

That was so smooth, you still can’t tell if Bush had the knife in his hand the whole time or not.

https://twitter.com/DonaldLiggett1/status/839250421684273152