Billy Bush Says Matt Lauer Tried to Save Him at ‘Today’ After Donald Trump Fallout

Before Billy Bush lost his job at Today, Matt Lauer tried to save him.

Bush appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Monday night to discuss the now-infamous hot mic tape in which he was heard laughing as Donald Trump made lewd comments about women.

Bush was fired after the tape was made public. He said Lauer, who himself has been disgraced after numerous sexual assault allegations were made against him, attempted to save Bush’s job.

“We had a conversation about that and I was told, he told me, that he went privately to the bosses and took that line,” Bush said. “I said I appreciated it, and I accepted it, and thanked him.”

Colbert also pointed out that while Bush lost his job because of the tape, Trump later became president.

“The very day he was swearing in as the 45th President of the United States, I was checking into this soul-searching retreat in Santalina, California for nine days,” Bush responded.

“It was a difficult time. I think it was very hot, emotionally in the country. A lot of people were not comfortable with the man who was close to winning the election and a lot of things happened quickly.”

In a recent op-ed for the New York Times, Bush confirmed that it was Trump speaking on the tape.

“Of course he said it,” Bush wrote. “And we laughed along, without a single doubt that this was hypothetical hot air from America’s highest-rated bloviator. Surely, we thought, none of this was real.”

“We now know better.”

Photo Credit: CBS