Rob Ford almost apologizes for accusing all councillors except Mammoliti of being corrupt

Rob Ford has lost much of his political clout, but his sense of outrage is still very much intact. On Monday, he helped bring a city council meeting to an early end by accusing almost all of his fellow municipal politicians of being corrupt. Today, he apologized. Almost.

The weirdness started on Monday night, when council speaker Frances Nunziata tried to eject councillor Giorgio Mammoliti from the meeting for being disruptive. Mammoliti refused to leave, and even vowed to defend himself if anyone tried to roust him by force. On the video of the meeting, while all this is going on, Ford can clearly be heard saying: “The most corrupt ones can stay, right? The most corrupt ones can stay, but he has to go.” Mammoliti isn’t a particularly great anti-corruption poster boy: he’s currently under investigation by the integrity commissioner for potentially improper donations from lobbyists.

Predictably, the comment caused a minor fracas on the floor of council. Nunziata called the day’s meeting to an abrupt close.

This morning, when council assembled for the meeting’s second day, Nunziata asked Ford for a formal apology, which he gave, albeit in classic Ford fashion. “I’ll withdraw my comments,” he said, according to the Globe. And then, when councillors pointed out that he hadn’t actually apologized, he added, sarcastically: “How about, I am so sorry? Super, super, super sorry?”