Doug Ford is backing away from a comment he made claiming that Mayor Rob Ford has more support among the black community than Barack Obama.
Ford told Newstalk 1010 on Monday that "there is no one that has helped the black community as much as Rob Ford has" and that the mayor would get more votes from the black community than "President Obama did."
The comment drew immediate criticism, with many at city hall referencing the more than 15 million black voters that cast their ballots in favour of Obama in both 2008 and 2012.
In 2010, a total of 383, 501 Torontonians voted for Ford.
"My point is no matter what community it is, it is all about customer service and there has been no politician in this country that returns more phone calls and that talks to more people than Rob Ford does," Ford said, when asked about the comment on Tuesday at city hall. "Someone calls and the mayor calls them back and if they have a problem he shows up to their door."
Ford's comment on Newstalk 1010 came after Andray Domise, a candidate in Ward Two, told the station that the black community would not vote for the mayor in October, given the repeated racist remarks he has been alleged to have made while in office as well as his opposition to a number of community programs.
Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Doug Ford said the media has "twisted around" his comments.
"What you should say is that one of the candidates accused the Ford family of not taking care of the black community," he said. "That is the truth and maybe you should report it that way."
In May, the Toronto Star reported that it had listened to an audio tape of an intoxicated Ford making several disparaging remarks about minorities, including blacks, and calling himself the "most racist guy around."
Following his return from rehab, Ford apologized for remarks he made while under the influence of substances in an interview with CP24, but did not apologize specifically for racist remarks.
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