RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 3 sourcesPresident Donald Trump slams Ontario premier as tariff tensions escalate by comparing him unfavorably to his deceased sibling, the colorful former Toronto mayor to whom he has himself been likened
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President Donald Trump has escalated his war of words with Ontario Premier Doug Ford by comparing him unfavorably to his late brother and fellow politician Rob Ford .
Taking to Truth Social Monday amid the latest twist in his on-again tariff war with Canada , the president wrote: “Lots of ‘bluster’ from Doug Ford, who is the Premier of the Canadian Province of Ontario, but who is better known as the less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother of the late, great, Rob Ford.”
The late Rob Ford was an outspoken Toronto city councillor and then its mayor from 2010 to 2014, known for a forthright right-wing populist style that saw him routinely rail at the establishment “gravy train,” an attack echoed in Trump’s own rhetoric calling out the Washington “swamp.”
Ford was also celebrated for calling his constituents personally to discuss their problems but later became notorious – and the butt of jokes on late-night TV internationally – for his erratic behavior, which turned out to stem from drink and drugs issues.
His problems came to a head when cellphone footage emerged of him smoking crack cocaine in 2013 but he refused to resign, preferring to fight his corner and only losing power when Toronto’s city council voted to transfer his powers to his deputy mayor Norm Kelly.
He subsequently took a sabbatical to seek treatment for his addictions, only to be diagnosed with an abdominal tumour in September 2014 from which he ultimately passed away in March 2016, aged just 46.
Trump had met Ford in 2012 while in Toronto to discuss a proposed Trump Tower branding deal that never came to pass and was clearly impressed with his bulldozing style.
“Who would you rather have negotiating with Iran – President Obama or Toronto Mayor Ford?” Trump asked on Twitter in March 2013. “My money is on Ford.”
Doug Ford once said of his brother that his popularity was such he “could commit murder on the steps of City Hall and they would still vote for him,” another line borrowed by Trump, who boasted in January 2016: “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.”
Responding to the president’s latest personal attack on the Ontario premier – who has advocated for a tough pushback against Trump’s trade aggressions – CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale marveled : “Quite a large number of remarkable things needed to happen for there to be a President Donald Trump social media post insulting Ontario Premier Doug Ford by invoking the late Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.”
Canadian journalist Jen Gerson labeled Trump “a cut-rate knock off version of Rob Ford, and he knows it. Rob walked so Trump could fly.”
Another journalist, Jeremy Berke, made the same comparison, saying Ford, like Trump, was: “Unapologetic to the press, brash, kind of an idiot, doesn’t know anything about policy, but so charismatic that they win hearts, minds, and elections.”
Doug Ford himself refused to be goaded by the president invoking his late brother but did respond robustly at a press conference in Hamilton.
“I don’t respond to a dictator like President Trump, a bully like President Trump,” he said. “I’m not gonna take any advice off a guy that’s the king of bankruptcies.”
Addressing the president directly, Ford said: “Your own people, President Trump, don’t even like you. And they’re gonna speak loud and clear in the midterms. If I was allowed to, I’d be down there door-knocking.”
He continued: “I can go back and forth with Trump. You know, I’m not going to, I’m just not going to take the bait. This guy’s a loser. He’s going to be a loser. And you know something? I have more courage, more brains in my baby toe than he has in his whole body.”
Ford had already told the president he could “kiss my a**” in a radio interview and reiterated the offer, saying: “I have a lot of real estate on my a**, so he has a lot of room to kiss my a**. I’m a big dude, what can I say?”
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