The unlikely rise to power of Donald Trump and Rob Ford

It’s déjà vu.

Media parked out front of a pair of golden elevators at the Trump International Hotel in New York City late last year, and it was just over three years ago that Toronto residents watched a similar scene unfold at city hall.

Donald Trump, the 45^th president of the United States, shares some similarities with former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford — who passed away in March of last year after an 18-month battle with cancer.

READ MORE: Rob Ford, former Toronto mayor, dies after 18-month struggle with rare form of cancer

Global News anchor Farah Nasser worked as a reporter at city hall during Ford’s political career and looking back on Trump’s campaign trail, she pinpointed some of the close comparisons.

Both Trump and Ford came from inherited wealth and had successful, entrepreneurial fathers.

The politicians rose to political power because they believed government should be run like a business.

Political catchphrases

While campaigning, both Ford and Trump used catchphrases to win the hearts of supporters.

Ford’s famous “stop the gravy train” referred to superfluous spending at city hall and his penny pinching politics gave him the edge when he won the 2010 election.

Even Trump loved the catchphrase and used it at a rally in West Virginia in May 2016.

But Trump’s most notable phrase during his campaign trail had to be “drain the swamp,” which he used to reference reducing government corruption and scandal.

Media reception

At the height of the Ford scandal, the ex-mayor had a turbulent relationship with media and he had even called the Toronto Star “pathological liars” for saying Ford had drug and alcohol issues.

“Lies after lies after lies,” Ford said in a press conference on Mar. 26, 2013.

“I have called you guys pathological liars and you are so why don’t you take me to court.”

But it was a few months later, in November that year, Ford admitted to smoking crack cocaine.

READ MORE: Rob Ford’s apologies: Stop us if you think you’ve heard this one before

At Trump’s first press conference as president-elect, the billionaire business man refused to take questions from CNN’s senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta.

“I’m not going to give you a question,” Trump said. “You are fake news.”

The president-elect also attacked Buzzfeed, which published the entire document but admitted it is both unverified and contained errors.

Trump called the news organization a “failing pile of garbage” and that he thinks Buzzfeed is “going to suffer the consequences” of publishing the report.

Merchandise

Both politicians reached political stardom and with that comes merchandise.

Trump supporters can be seen at a distance, wearing their red trucker hats with the slogan “Make America Great Again” stitched on the front.

The hats retail for $25 USD.

While Ford opted for a miniature bobblehead, called Robbie Bobbies.

The dolls were sold at City Hall for $30, with proceeds donated to Humber River Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital.

READ MORE: Rob Ford bobbleheads go on sale at city hall

The bobbleheads were all the rage and the sale saw people lined up around the block.

While Trump and Ford shared some similarities in their political life, they also shared a mutual respect for each other in their personal life.

The pair met in 2012 when Trump opened a hotel in Toronto and they reconnected over social media, just a year later.

Ford tweeted his support for the former mayor, saying “Who would  you rather have negotiating with Iran–President Obama or Toronto Mayor Ford? My money is on Ford.”

The Ford family also showed they were on team Trump when they tweeted from the family account, “Go Trump Go!” after the former mayor’s passing.

With files from Farah Nasser