[URBAN NOTE] On Doug Ford and Donald Trump

[rfmcdonald]

Torontoist has linked to an extended Doug Ford interview at CityNews wherein Rob Ford's brother comes out as favouring Trump.

Cynthia Mulligan: So you’ve actually met Donald Trump.

Doug Ford: Yes, with Rob when he opened the Trump tower in Toronto.

CM: Are you still a supporter of Donald Trump?

DF: Absolutely. I wouldn’t waver. The GOP is wavering, I wouldn’t waver.

CM: Well Republicans are jumping off the ship in droves. Why is it you’re still staying on?

DF: Well they weren’t on the ship at the beginning. So the establishment that he’s run against – the 14 million people in the US are dead against these career politicians – they were never with him. So the Paul Ryans, and the McCains, they’re finding any excuse to jump ship. But they don’t realize it makes their campaigns a lot weaker. What he has said is inexcusable – some of the things.

CM: Then how can you still support him and all these revelations from women coming out saying he has sexually assaulted them? How can you still stand by him?

DF: First you have to make sure it’s true. That’s the first thing. Accusations are coming out.

CM: Sure, but it’s almost reminiscent of Bill Cosby. When they just start piling on and there’s a wing of common accusation here.

DF: It’s inexcusable. But I look at the alternative. The alternative is Crooked Hillary. That if you ever look into their background I have to wonder how they made all this money when she was in government. They didn’t own a business. There were tens of millions of dollars. And she was Secretary of State. So I think this WikiLeaks every day is coming out with new information that should shock the people. Let’s put this into perspective. Over 80% of the media can’t stand him in the US. I’ve never seen a more biased media in my entire life, except Rob Ford. But outside of that I have not seen a more biased media.

There is much more.

Torontoist's conclusion bears sharing.

It might be tempting to ignore Ford’s defence of the most reprehensible mainstream presidential candidate in modern history. But the former mayoral candidate, even out of office, speaks for a sizeable political constituency in Toronto. It also appears that he wants to run for political office in the future, so how he thinks and what his values are matters. The next time Doug tries to cast himself as the populist champion of the marginalized and downtrodden, let’s remember his defence of Donald Trump, and what that says about Ford.