Mayor Rob Ford’s second bombshell of the day: I am staying on as mayor, despite “embarrassing everyone in the city”

Video courtesy of Global News

Just a few hours after a surprise media scrum in which he admitted to smoking crack, mayor Rob Ford make a second announcement to the press: I’m staying on as mayor until election day.

Standing at a podium—a podium that made this announcement a modicum more classy than the circus-like one earlier today—the mayor appeared in an NFL-themed tie, flanked by staffers and his brother, Doug Ford. Looking beleaguered, but determined, and made the following statement, reading from a script:

With today’s announcement, I know I embarrassed everyone in this city. And I will be forever sorry. There’s only one person to blame for this, and that is myself. I know that  admitting my mistake was the right thing to do. I can’t explain how difficult this was to do. I hope, I hope, that nobody, that nobody, has to go through what I went through. I know what I did was wrong, and admitting it was the most difficult and embarrassing thing I have ever had to do.

Folks, I have nothing left to hide. I would do anything—absolutely anything—to change the past. But the past is the past. And we must move forward. I want to be clear. I want to be crystal clear to every single person. These mistakes will never, never, never happen again. I kept this from my family, especially my brother Doug, my staff and my council colleagues because I was embarrassed and ashamed.

To the residents of Toronto, I know I have let you down. I can’t do anything else but apologize. And I’m so sorry. I know, I know I have to regain your trust and your confidence. I love my job. I love this city. I love saving the taxpayers money. I love being your mayor. There’s important work that we must advance. For the sake of the taxpayers, we must get back to work immediately. We must keep Toronto moving forward. I was elected to do a job, and that’s exactly what I’m going to continue doing. In 2010, I made a commitment to Toronto voters and I will continue to deliver on that commitment, to continue to save taxpayers money.

We live in a democracy. On October 27, 2014, I want the people of this great city, I want the people of this city to decide if they want Rob for to be their mayor. Again, I sincerely, sincerely, sincerely apologize.

God bless the people of Toronto. Thank you very much

And with that, the mayor left the room to return to his office without taking questions.