WATCH: Rob Ford addresses drug use on his new YouTube show, Ford Nation
TORONTO – With his weekly radio program surprisingly halted and his television show nixed after one episode, Rob Ford launched his latest effort on Monday at getting his message out with a new show on YouTube.
The scandal-soaked Toronto mayor is joined by his brother Coun. Doug Ford in hosting the online “Ford Nation” series, sharing the name of his ill-fated TV broadcast.
A brief teaser posted on YouTube last month shows the pair jokingly trading jabs before ending with Rob Ford asking viewers to “please judge me on my record, not my personal life.”
READ MORE: Promo for Rob Ford’s YouTube show Ford Nation released
One of the first videos posted on the YouTube page has the mayor answering a question about his drug use.
Last fall, Ford admitted to having smoked crack cocaine in a “druken stupor.”
“Did I experiment with drugs? Yes I have,” said Ford. “Why did I lie? I think everyone in the world has lied. Because I was embarrassed. I didn’t want to tell the truth.”
Another clip had Ford address his political leanings.
“It’s not left, right or centre. I don’t ask people on the phone, ‘Are you a conservative, NDP, or liberal before I help them. I just go out and help these people out.”
WATCH: Rob and Doug Ford launch their latest effort on Monday at getting their message out with a new show on YouTube
The show comes months after a weekly radio talk show hosted by the Ford brothers was ended on what Toronto radio station NewsTalk 1010 called mutual agreement.
Their Sun News Network series was cancelled after its debut due to its costs.
Like his other broadcast programs, the YouTube endeavour will give Ford a chance to sound off on city hall issues and will also let him hammer home campaign themes as he ramps up his fall re-election bid.
The Internet premiere comes as Ford finds himself dogged by questions about his conduct on a recent trip to the West Coast.
READ MORE: Rob Ford was ‘targeted’ by RCMP in Vancouver, brother says
A Toronto Star report cites an unidentified witness alleging the mayor appeared impaired and was “talking gibberish” at a pub outside Vancouver. The Star said it was unable to independently verify the source’s allegations.
Ford has not immediately commented on the Star’s story.
Even before his official debut, Rob Ford has already become something of a star on the massively popular video-sharing site, where a search for his name yields upwards of half-a-million videos.
In Depth: Rob Ford
That number is sure to be bolstered in the wake of Ford’s new show due to YouTube’s fiesty and at-times derisive culture, where users offer up their own takes in recorded responses that can run the gamut from exhaustive criticism to unbridled praise.
A video channel dedicated solely to countering the new Ford show has already sprung up, lambasting its 30-second teaser with more than three minutes of clips of Ford scandals and controversial statements dating back to his time as a city councillor.
“Ford Nation Rebuttal will echo the call of the Ford Nation channel to ‘(g)et to know the mayor that the whole world is talking about,”‘ the channel mockingly pledges.
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