Rob Ford defends his desire to remove Pride flag

Ford Nation, the creepily low budget YouTube series featuring the Mayor and his brother, is back with new episodes, the most noteworthy of which addresses the controversy surrounding the Pride flag at city hall. You'll recall that numerous Canadian cities raised rainbow flags at the outset of the Sochi Olympics to show solidarity with gay communities across Russia. Toronto participated in this gesture at the request of Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam and with the help of Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly.

When Rob Ford caught wind of the flag raising, he claimed that it was inappropriate and expressed his desire to have it taken down. "This is about the Olympics, this is about being patriotic to your country," he said at the time. "This is not about sexual preference." Then, like a mature adult who is (putatively) responsible for running the largest city in Canada, he taped a Canadian flag to his office window by way of protest.

Now he's taken to YouTube to defend his stance on the "Pride Ffffffffflag" while his brother meditates or prays by his side (no, really, just watch). After repeating his previous argument related to patriotism and support of Canadian athletes (because these things are mutually exclusive with gay rights, right?), the mayor does his best to look earnest, and delivers this defence to the camera:

"I am not homophobic. I'll got to anyone's house...anyone's place to help them out. I take offence when people say that to me. This is Canada...our Canadian flag should be up there not the Pride flag." When asked for his opinion, Doug Ford digs the hole even deeper by 1) noting that they both have lots of gay friends and 2) insinuating that he and his brother are being bullied into "things."

The whole bit would be brilliant if it was a comedy routine. But it isn't. Oh, and by the way, the breakdown of flags currently being flown at city hall is as follows: nine Canadian flags, eight Toronto flags, and one Pride flag. Thanks for clarifying, Norm Kelly.