Controversial Toronto city councillor Giorgio Mammoliti is not backing down after tweeting Sunday night that voters should support candidates who believe in God and that religion and politics can mix.
“I do believe that the devil is alive and well in the city of Toronto. We’re seeing it rapidly with almost every weekend, and now even during the week,” he said in an interview with The Morning Show on Global News Radio 640 Toronto, in reference to the frequent violence in the city.
LISTEN: Giorgio Mammoliti defends his ‘devil’ tweet
On Sunday evening, the Ward 7 councillor tweeted, “End attack on Christians and other faiths! Voters should ask candidates whether they believe in a God and support those who DO.
“The lack of religious values in politics is why our children are killing each other. Religion and politics DO MIX. Let’s drive the devil out of Toronto!”
The tweet attracted widespread attention, including that of British comedian Ricky Gervais, who sarcastically countered that “People who believe in a god are never violent. That’s why there are no religious people in prison.”
In the interview with 640 Toronto, host Supriya Dwivedi admitted that she thought the tweet was “bonkers” and asked Mammoliti to convince her otherwise.
“It’s not bonkers,” he said. “I have been trying to deal with the issues at hand, specifically in my community, around shootings and those who like to kill people,” he said.
Mammoliti said he’s heard from people who said they would like the values of religion brought back to city policy in some way.
He said he believes that people of faith “tend to make better policies than those that don’t.”
“I believe that with the values people hold, and no matter what faith they have, and no matter what church they go to, I think you get a better society from that and I think we’ve strayed over years,” he said.
Mammoliti is a veteran of Toronto municipal politics who has represented a ward in the city’s northwest since the mid-1990s.
Prior to that, he served as an MPP under NDP premier Bob Rae.
Long known for controversial statements, he came under fire earlier in his re-election campaign for comparing evicting criminals from public housing to spraying for cockroaches.
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