Al Roker apologizes for de Blasio jab

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NBC’s “Today” show meteorologist Al Roker apologized on Friday for a tweet he posted a day before, blasting New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for not closing down schools during a snowstorm.

“On the one tweet, I do regret … I’m very passionate about the weather. I made a prediction that there would be only one term of his administration. I apologize for that. That was a little below the line. Everything else, I still stand by including that the National Weather Service did forecast that on Wednesday,” Roker said Friday on “Today.”

Roker was referring to one of a series of tweets he posted Thursday after de Blasio announced he would keep city schools open.

The veteran meteorologist, however, stood by the other tweets he posted chastising de Blasio.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) had declared a state of emergency for the rest of New York, Roker pointed out. Many schools districts outside of the city were closed.

At a press conference Thursday afternoon, de Blasio required schools to dismiss students early as the snowstorm strengthened.

De Blasio responded to Roker’s criticisms at the press conference and defended his initial decision to keep schools open.

“I respect Al Roker a lot, watched him on TV for many many years,” de Blasio said. “It’s a different thing to run a city than to give weather on TV … I respect all the meteorologists out there, but the one I respect the most is called the National Weather Service.”

De Blasio was sworn in as mayor last month, succeeding Michael Bloomberg who served in that role for 12 years. Many New Yorkers haven’t been too happy with how de Blasio has handled snowstorms so far this season.

Roker has worked as the “Today” weather anchor since 1996.