politics
Consensus: Rob Ford’s Remarks Don’t Bring This to a Close
Councillors' initial reaction is that the mayor's remarks today don't put recent crack-smoking allegations to rest.
Earlier today Rob Ford broke eight days of silence regarding allegations that he’d been captured on video smoking what appears to be crack cocaine, convening a press conference to address the matter. He read from a prepared statement and took no questions, and as soon as he was done councillors from across the political spectrum began commenting. Their consensus: this isn’t over.
A round-up of some initial reactions from councillors and political observers:
“I think the mayor at this point should simply resign.”
“I don’t know what to believe.”
“I don’t think this is over.”
“Obviously this is not done. This is not going to go away today with this statement.”
“It was very open, it was very transparent… [But] is this over? Of course it isn’t.”
“Once I’ve completed writing this I will honestly be able to say that I am not writing this.”
“I believe him… [But] I think there’s still more to come on this.”
“Since we know that Rob Ford used to smoke crack cocaine, and in fact most certainly did smoke crack cocaine at some point within the last six months, we can only interpret his statement claiming not to currently smoke crack cocaine as an announcement that he has decided to kick the habit.”
“You know what helps keep people from diagramming your sentences? Taking questions and answering them.”
“Another q for Mayor Rob Ford: What is the story behind the photo of you with a man alleged to be Anthony Smith, later shot outside a club?
“Mayor Ford: I Did Not Have Smoking Relations with That Crack Pipe”