In yet another bizarre moment from the Toronto mayor's race, city councilman Doug Ford — who is now running for mayor in the place of his brother, the controversial Mayor Rob Ford, in the wake of Rob's cancer diagnosis — defended his brother against accusations of anti-Semitism. The problem: He did so by apparently invoking Jewish stereotypes.
At a debate hosted by local Jewish groups on Sunday night, candidate Ari Goldkind said: "I would start on the issue of anti-Semitism by not having a mayor who refers to us, the people in this room, the Jewish people in this room, with a derogatory name that starts with 'K'" — a reference to a reported audio recording of an intoxicated Rob Ford this past March, in which he used a variety of ethnic slurs.
After Goldkind finished his answer, it was Doug Ford's chance to respond. "Ari, I'm not going to address that comment," he said. "But you know something? My doctor, my Jewish doctor, my Jewish dentist, my Jewish lawyer," Ford said, as the audience began drowning him out in a chorus of booing, "my Jewish — hold it — accountant. We've learned, our family — can you please, please let me finish?
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"Our family has the utmost respect — let me finish, please. My family has the utmost respect for the Jewish community. The utmost respect. And we look forward to working with the Jewish community — as we have for the last four years, for the last four years. I'll leave it at that."
After continued debate with Goldkind, Doug Ford made it clear that he disapproved of Rob's comments, and stated that Rob has apologized. Watch the video below, courtesy of Global News. --Eric Kleefeld
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