Is Al Roker joining the Biden administration?
After the TODAY weatherman and co-host renewed his bromance with President Joe Biden with a fist bump at Wednesday's inauguration, he reflected on a job offer that Biden made him in 2014 during an appearance on TODAY.
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Biden, who was the vice president at the time, hinted that Al might have a position as the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration if Biden ever became president.
"By the way, before I come on and be a co-host, I want to appoint you to head up NOAA and then we'll work that out after I'm out of this job or whatever job I'm in next," Biden said at the time. "If I were running the administration, the next one, I'd have you in it."
Still beaming from his latest moment with Biden on Inauguration Day, Al looked back on the president's comments from 2014 and made a big "announcement" on the 3rd hour of TODAY Thursday.
"Well, good news for you, Dylan, I'm resigning, taking on the position of the head of the National Weather Service," Al joked to TODAY meteorologist Dylan Dreyer. "It's been fun, good night, everybody, see ya later!"
"Al Roker's running the National Weather Service, those hurricane names, they're gonna get a whole lot better," Craig Melvin said.
"We're already going to add Craig, Sheinelle and Dylan to the list," Al said.
Al also shared what it was like on Wednesday when he once again had a quick, personal moment with Biden during an inaugural parade, this time with Biden as president. Biden made his way over to give Al a pandemic-friendly fist bump.
"We've got to keep doing this!" Biden said.
“How does it feel, Mr. President?” Al asked.
“It feels great!” Biden replied.
The first memorable moment between Al and the 46th president came back in 2013 during President Barack Obama's second inauguration, when Biden was his vice president. While Al was covering the inaugural parade for TODAY, he repeatedly yelled for Biden to come over to the rope line for a handshake, and Biden obliged by shaking Al's hand over the barricade.
"It was special, it really was," Al said Thursday. "I'm a kid from Queens, and I've had my hand shaken by the vice president and a fist bump from the president. That's not so shabby."
Al said that Wednesday's subdued parade, which did not feature the usual crowd of hundreds of thousands due to the pandemic and security concerns, had "a certain reverence, but there was also a certain amount of joy."
Considering Al had gotten the previous handshake from Biden in 2013, as well as getting the attention of Obama during the parade, he figured he would press his luck on Wednesday.
"So I thought let's try it again, let's go one more time," he said. "The funny thing is I didn't think he was gonna come over because he got almost parallel with us, and then I thought well, I had the (previous) moment.
"And then he, all of a sudden, I guess thought better of it and came over. He's always been very generous with his time, and we really appreciate that."
So now we need to know, Mr. President, does the job offer still stand?