Asked by a caller to his Sunday radio show whether it is indeed him in the video described by the Star and the U.S. website Gawker, Ford laughed and responded, “Number one, there’s no video, so that’s all I can say. You can’t comment on something that doesn’t exist.”
Ford firmly called the reports “false,” a word that did not appear in his Friday speech at city hall . In that speech, he said, “I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine. As for a video, I cannot comment on a video that I have never seen or does not exist.”
Many city councillors and political pundits were unsatisfied with the speech, urging Ford to address the reports more thoroughly. Ford suggested Sunday that he believes he has said enough.
“No matter what you say, I found out, to the media, you’re never going to make them happy. You can give them 10 bars of gold and they’re going to want — why don’t I give 15 bars of gold? Well, you know what, folks, that’s the media that we have, unfortunately,” he said.
Councillor Doug Ford, the mayor’s brother and co-host, said 80 per cent of journalists are “nasty son-of-a-guns.” Rob Ford interjected: “Bunch of maggots.” After a brief pause, he added, “Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have said that.”
Doug Ford later asked listeners to contact him with any personal information about members of the media. He accused unnamed reporters of using cocaine themselves.
“I’ve been getting numerous calls about the media, and the shenanigans they’re on, and, as I said on a couple other talk shows, I found it ironic when I’m getting calls that the people that were chasing Rob have done cocaine. Not just experiment, but have indulged in cocaine,” Doug Ford said.
The Fords used most of the two-hour Newstalk 1010 show to discuss their policy accomplishments and to launch attacks on city councillors and the media. Doug Ford, fiery, did most of the talking, and Rob Ford, sounding relaxed, left after one hour, saying he had to go to church for his daughter’s communion.
The caller’s question about the video was the first Rob Ford answered in any detail since the Star and Gawker published their reports 11 days ago. He has not responded to questions from reporters.
The same caller asked whether it is true that Ford appears in a photo with a 21-year-old, Anthony Smith , who was murdered in March. Ford said he poses for photos with “everybody,” and he deemed the caller a racist for asking about a photo of him with young black men, though she did not mention their race.
“That’s very sad, that she’s a racist,” Rob Ford said.
Doug Ford said, “Rob has taken thousands of pictures with young black men, with their hats on, with their little funny signs and everything else.”
Two Star reporters viewed the video three times, a Gawker journalist once. The video appears to show Ford smoking crack and uttering an anti-gay slur. However, the Star could not verify its authenticity.
Doug Ford, as he did on Saturday , vehemently denied a Globe and Mail article that reported he had been a dealer of hashish in Etobicoke when he was in his teens and early 20s. “I was not a dealer of hashish in the 1980s,” Doug Ford said.
Rob Ford fired his chief of staff, Mark Towhey, without public explanation on Thursday. He said Sunday that he would not discuss “personnel issues.” He did deny a Star report that he had fired Towhey in part because Towhey had rejected his demand to seize thousands of dollars of football equipment he had donated to Don Bosco Catholic Secondary.
Rob Ford was dismissed Wednesday as Don Bosco’s volunteer football coach. He said on the show that he had Don Bosco players “over at the house” after his dismissal. Though council loyalists have long advised him to quit coaching to focus on government, he also said he will now consider coaching offers from other schools.
“People keep coming up to me, saying, ‘Have you retired from coaching? Are you getting another coaching job?’ As of now, I don’t have a job. So if something comes up, you never know. But I really want to concentrate on getting, basically, our platform through,” he said.
Rob Ford read out the names of councillors who handed him another legislative defeat last week by voting against allowing expanded gambling at Woodbine racetrack. Doug Ford said the “vast majority” of councillors “couldn’t get a job” outside politics. He also pledged to reveal damaging information about any councillors who criticize him and his brother.
“I can go through all 44 councillors right now, folks — and I’m sure I could do it, but I’m not going to. But I have a message for the councillors: you want to keep throwing stones, I’m going to throw boulders right back at you. It’s very simple,” Doug Ford said.
Before his departure, Rob Ford recited what he sees as his top policy accomplishments. They include keeping taxes low, reducing the office budgets for councillors and the mayor, and eliminating the vehicle registration tax.
“We’re bringing accountability to city hall,” he said. “First time ever.”
Source: thestar.com
Author: Daniel Dale
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