Toronto Mayor Rob Ford says he is not embarrassed by his appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and wishes he had been given more time to promote Toronto.
Ford showed up at Toronto City Hall on Tuesday afternoon, shortly after returning from Los Angeles. His Monday night interview with Kimmel came at the tail end of his much publicized trip to Tinseltown.
During Ford’s appearance on the show, Kimmel questioned him on everything from the alleged crack video to Ford’s dare to Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair to arrest him. At one point, Kimmel brought Ford over to a large screen and played a compilation of the mayor’s most infamous videotaped blunders. The audience, as well as Ford, laughed as Kimmel went through the videos one by one .
But Ford insisted that he wasn’t embarrassed by the interview, repeating several times that he wanted to “get my record out.”
That record, Ford said on Tuesday, is one of saving taxpayers millions of dollars.
“Was it a tough interview? Sure it was, but he has a job to do. I knew I was going into a lion’s den. I held my own, I got my message out,” he said. “I wish I had more time to promote Toronto.”
Ford said that his entire trip to Los Angeles proved to be a success, adding that he must have gone through a “thousand” business cards.
Ford also said he met with “movers and shakers” of the film industry while in Hollywood, and was surprised that some hadn’t heard of the Toronto International Film Festival.
Ford said, however, that he would not be taking Kimmel’s advice to go seek help because he doesn’t need any.
“I don’t have any personal issues, we’ve gone down that road a number of times,” he told reporters on Tuesday, adding that later in the day he was going to work out.
The mayor’s brother, city councillor Doug Ford, said Tuesday that he also thought Kimmel had thrown his brother some “hardball questions,” but added that mayor had done a “fabulous job,” and that he thought the entire trip was a success as well.
Ford also visited Los Angeles City Council while he was in the city, and briefly attended a budget and finance meeting. He did not get the chance, however, to meet Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who was in Mexico on a trade mission.
Not everyone, of course, thought Ford’s trip was a success.
John Parker, a Toronto city councillor, said on Tuesday that while Ford might think he did a good job promoting Toronto, he wasn’t sold.
“I’m not sure that’s the type of diplomacy that our government wants to put out to the surrounding world,” he said.
