Getty Matt Bevin and Al Roker spar over school closings during cold weather.
Iconic weatherman Al Roker took issue with Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin’s comment that is was “soft” to close schools as record cold temperatures hit much of the United States this week.
“Now we cancel school for cold… I mean there’s no ice going with it, or any snow. What happens to America? We’re getting soft Terry, we’re getting soft,” Bevin, told 840 WHAS Radio host Terry Meiners.
Roker took objected to Bevin’s remarks in an appearance on MSNBC.
“This nitwit governor in Kentucky saying these kids who are going to be in sub-zero wind chills … no! Cancel school. Adults, if they want to be out there, that’s great. These are our children, you know. I’m glad (Bevin is) not a teacher,” Roker said.
Bevin also responded to the cold snap this week by sharing a meme saying “Trump has been in office 1 year and has already fixed global warming.”
At least 9 people have died as a result of the polar vortex this week, CBS News reported.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Matt Bevin: It’s ‘Soft’ to Keep Kids Home During Record Cold Weather
Bevin criticized school closings during the polar vortex in an interview with radio host Terry Meiners.
“Now, we cancel school for cold,” Bevin lamented.
“It’s deep freeze; this is serious business,” Meiners noted.
“Come on, now,” Bevin said. “There’s no ice going with it or any snow. What happens to America? We’re getting soft, Terry, we’re getting soft.”
“It’s better to err on the side of being safe, and I’m being only slightly facetious,” he added, “but it does concern me a little bit that in America, on this and any number of other fronts, we’re sending messages to our young people that if life is hard, you can curl up in the fetal position somewhere in a warm place and just wait ’til it stops being hard. And that just isn’t reality.”
“I mean, what (happened) to America? We’re getting soft, Terry. We’re getting soft.”
Gov. Matt Bevin expressed criticism after dozens of school districts canceled classes Wednesday due to dangerously cold temperatures throughout Kentucky.
STORY: t.co/pgq5vffHt7
2. Al Roker Calls Bevin a ‘Nitwit’ Over Remarks
Roker, a co-host of NBC’s “Today,” responded to Bevin’s comments in an appearance on MSNBC Thursday.
“I just have to say, this nitwit governor in Kentucky, saying that ‘Oh, we’re weak,’” Roker said. “These are kids who are going to be in subzero wind chill. No, cancel school. Stop it.”
“Adults, if they want to be out there, that’s great. These are our children, you know. I’m glad (Bevin is) not a teacher,” Roker added.
“In Kentucky, it’s 7 degrees right now,” he later said on ‘Today.’ “The wind chill is going to be even worse in parts of Kentucky. These are dangerous temperatures and there is no point in having kids out there.”
It’s 3 degrees in Louisville, KY right now and @GovMattBevin thinks Kentucky is “getting soft” because the schools closed for the day. @alroker explains why that’s just dumb:
3. Bevin Blames Press For Negative Reaction, Cites Obama
The tattered remnants of the mainstream media at @courierjournal @heraldleader & national media (including weatherman @alroker), continue to rush out like blind lemmings…Cutting & pasting quotes in order to mislead & elicit “outrage” from the hyper-sensitive and easily fooled..
Bevin took to Twitter to accuse the press for the negative reaction to his comments.
“The tattered remnants of the mainstream media…(including weatherman @alroker), continue to rush out like blind lemmings…Cutting & pasting quotes in order to mislead & elicit ‘outrage’ from the hyper-sensitive and easily fooled,” he wrote.
Bevin then shared a video of former President Obama joking about school closures in 2009 and complained that there was no outrage them.
Remember all the outrage from these clowns at the @courierjournal, @heraldleader, @WKYT and that highly esteemed titan of journalism, @alroker, when @BarackObama said this about snow & school cancelations?
Yeah, me neither…
“As my children pointed out in Chicago, school is never canceled,” Obama joked about school closures during a snowfall in January.
The Washington Post’s Dave Weigel pointed out that “Obama was referring to hundreds of school cancellations in 27 degree weather (with sleet), which was quite a bit warmer than what we’re talking about now.”
4. Bevin Challenger Calls His Comments ‘Dumb and Mean’
Adam Edelen, a Democrat running for governor of Kentucky this year, slammed Bevin’s remarks.
“I wish there were better words to describe things our governor says than, ‘dumb and mean.’ But there aren’t…” he wrote.
On Wednesday, Edelen urged residents to buy coats for children in need and donate them to a list of places that provide coats for the needy.
INBOX: Democratic candidate for governor @adamhedelen telling supporters where to donate winter coats for needy #Kentucky kids based on @MattBevin’s “soft” comments. #KYGov
Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear, another Democrat running for governor, said that Bevin’s comments were “another example of what this governor is not fit for office.”
Attorney General Beshear on Gov. Bevin’s ‘soft’ comment on cold, schools: I believe those comments are another example why this governor is not fit for office. ^JB
5. At Least 9 People Have Died as a Result of Polar Vortex
At least nine deaths have been linked to the polar vortex that affected nearly 90 million people this week, CBS News reports.
A University of Iowa student was found frozen to death outside of a campus building where temperatures fell as low as -22 degrees.
Eight other deaths have been linked to hyperthermia and car accidents caused by the weather.
The US Postal Service was forced to suspend mail delivery in parts of six states and thousands of flights have been canceled.
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