Gaffe-prone Toronto Mayor Rob Ford triggered fresh controversy on Thursday with dubious advice about Christmas shopping for women, just days after apologizing twice for suggesting a reporter was a pedophile.
“Women love money. Give ’em a couple thousand bucks and they are happy,” the disgraced mayor told Washington sports radio show The Sports Junkies.
Ford added that he follows his own advice when it comes to his wife, Renata, whom he embarrassed last month with revelations about their sex life.
“At the end of the day, she wants her cash, so I give her a nice cheque and we’re all happy,” said Ford, who became a global figure of ridicule last month after admitting he had smoked crack in the past.
Ford also suggested dresses and perfumes as alternative gifts for a spouse.
The comments come after Ford apologized in a statement late on Wednesday for suggesting that a city hall reporter who covered the mayor’s downfall was a pedophile.
Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale withdrew his libel and defamation lawsuit, but only after Ford’s second attempt at contrition, as Dale deemed a first apology a day earlier insincere.
Ford, who was stripped of most of his mayoral powers and duties last month after admitting smoking crack, had been recalling in a television interview a confrontation in May last year with Dale, who was staking out the mayor’s home for a story about him wanting to buy an adjacent city park.
“Daniel Dale is in my backyard taking pictures,” Ford said in the interview for Vision TV.
“I have little kids. He’s taking pictures of little kids,” Ford said. “I don’t want to say that word, but you start thinking what this guy is all about.”
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