John Tory scoffs at notion he’d help Doug Ford pay down campaign debts

WATCH: John Tory laughs off notion he’ll help Doug Ford pay down campaign debt

TORONTO – Doug Ford is holding a fundraiser May 14 to try to recoup some of the nearly $800,000 his family spent on the mayoral election.

But Mayor John Tory won’t be helping.

“Anybody thinking for just a moment about the prospect of my going out and raising money which would finance, in effect quite directly, the running of ads that called into question my character, my integrity and so on, must think I fell off some sort of turnip truck pulling into downtown Toronto.”

“It’s a free country, I’m not complaining about the ads as much as I’m saying you can’t expect me to pay for them,” he said later in the press conference.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's a free country, I'm not complaining about the ads as much as I'm saying you can't expect me to pay for them," he said later in the press conference.

Ford said Sunday that he would “welcome” Tory’s help to pay off some of his debts.

“I welcome him, but obviously he doesn’t want to. I asked him if he could attend or support in any way… but I don’t know what his problem is, to be honest with you,” Ford said according to the National Post.

Ford entered the campaign in September 2013, after his brother Rob Ford was diagnosed with cancer and dropped out. In the ensuing 8 weeks of the campaign, Ford frequently criticized Tory’s character, resume, and integrity suggesting he would be beholden to lobbyists, and was responsible for the bankruptcy of a billion-dollar company.

He also accused Tory of being “parachuted” into his jobs.

Tory has a history of helping rivals; he helped former Mayor David Miller pay off some of his debts after losing to him in the 2003 election as well as Rob Ford after the 2010 election.