Left-Wing NYC Mayor Cuts Ribbon for New 'Today' Show Plaza
On Monday, the hosts of NBC's Today invited left-wing New York
City Mayor Bill de Blasio to perform a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the
newly-renovated plaza outside Rockefeller Center's Studio 1A, with Matt
Lauer gushing: "And look who stepped in here, the new mayor of
New York City, Bill de Blasio. Mr. Mayor, it's nice to see you....you're
here for a great reason....to help us cut the ribbon and usher in a new
era on our gussied up plaza here." [Listen to the audio]
De Blasio gave a resounding endorsement of the morning show: "It's
great to be here....It's beautiful, it's beautiful. Let me tell you,
people love this part of our town and this makes it even better. And I
think it's going to be an exciting addition to New York City. All I can
say is come visit. Wherever you are in the country, come visit and be a
part of this." Co-host Savannah Guthrie proclaimed: "Thank you. The
Mayor said so."
After
Guthrie counted down, de Blasio took a large pair of scissors and cut
an orange ribbon tied across an newly-constructed Today show arch in the
center of the plaza. Guthrie declared: "Mayor de Blasio, thank you so
much for helping us make it official."
Minutes later, weatherman Al Roker seized on the opportunity to "bury the snow shovel" with the Mayor after harshly criticizing de Blasio's poor handling of a recent snow storm: "And we'll get this out of the way. We had a little chat about school closings and snow. And we both want the best for the school kids out there. And our city." [Listen to the audio]
As part of the highly choreographed segment De Blasio replied:
And, Al, look, I think together letting people know what's going on with the weather, letting people know how they can be safe, that's something we do together....So I'd like you actually to join us, this is the sanitation department official hat. And if you'd like to come out and join us with snow clearance, this could be a new part of your career.
Roker happily took the "DSNY" cap and exclaimed: "I'd love to do it. My
dad was a bus driver and he used to drive a snow-clearing bus. So I'd
love to do this. New York's strongest."
As the two shook hands, Roker fawned: "Mr. Mayor, thank you so much for
coming by....We really appreciate it." De Blasio responded: "My great
pleasure."
— Kyle Drennen is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.
