Will Ferrell as George W. Bush says don't vote for 'disgraced pumpkin' Donald Trump

Will Ferrell as George W. Bush on Comedy Central. Photo / Comedy Central

The real-life George W. Bush has withheld his endorsement from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Will Ferrell's George W. Bush character went a bit further on Comedy Central: "Don't let that sack of rotten sweet potatoes anywhere near the White House."

Reprising the role he once played regularly on Saturday Night Live, Ferrell made the obligatory wisecracks about Trump's tan (he also called the real estate mogul a "disgraced pumpkin") but delivered sharper critiques, too. Ferrell as Bush said that if Trump were to win next month's election, the country would be "overrun with wild dogs and racists" - a shot aimed not only at the candidate but also his supporters.

Ferrell's sketch was the latest example of late-night comedy turning tougher on Trump in the final weeks of the campaign. Even SNL, which Trump hosted during the GOP primary, has produced some biting satire lately, after handling him pretty gently throughout most of the election.

Trump has noticed the shift. And he does not appreciate it.

Ferrell's Bush character also had some stern words for cousin Billy Bush, the TV host who was recorded in 2005 aboard an Access Hollywood bus talking with Trump about the billionaire's ability to "do anything" to women and get away with it.

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"I just want to say one thing: We Bushes don't act like that, OK?" Ferrell as Bush said. "We have standards. And we're raised a certain way. And we would never, under any circumstances, ride a bus. When you're a Bush, you ride in a limousine or a jump jet or maybe a monster truck called Sasquatch Express."