Rob Ford, Toronto’s now infamous mayor, has done it again: He cast the sole “no” votes at a City Council meeting to congratulate Olympian athletes and to name a street in honor of Nelson Mandela — and after outrage, tried to blame it on his sore back.
“We all make errors,” Mr. Ford said, explaining that he was simply stretching his sore back and hit the “no” button on the voting machine too quickly, The Associated Press reported. “I guess I pushed the wrong button. Of course, I support Nelson Mandela.”
Mr. Ford clarified he also supports Canada’s Olympians — and especially the Paralympic athletes included in the vote of congratulations.
After casting the initial votes, Mr. Ford tried to get a motion passed to allow him to re-vote, but that motion was denied, AP reported.
The council’s reaction to his votes was one of shock.
“Everyone when he did it said, ’What are you doing, Rob?’ He shrugged his shoulders and let it go,” said City Council member Adam Vaughn, in the AP report. “And then a half-hour later, not immediately, a half-hour later, when Twitter and social media went off the charts, his staff came and said, ’You better fix this. You look like a fool.’ Because you know what? He is one.”
Mr. Ford, for his part, said he asked for the second chance at voting immediately.
His brother, City Council member Doug Ford, meanwhile, tried to do damage control with the press.
“No one in this city supports the black community more than Rob Ford,” brother Doug said, in the AP report. “No one. Bottom line. Zing. Done. And no one supports the Olympic athletes more than Rob Ford.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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