Gov. Jeff Landry and former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu traded barbs Friday on social media, as Landrieu accused the governor of attacking the city and the governor responded by blasting his record.
The two have traded barbs on X, with Landrieu posting a recent guest column in the Times-Picayune on Friday calling on the state to back down on what he characterized as a misguided self-defeating battle with the city.
“If Governor Landry wants to sit back while Louisiana falls behind our neighbors and pick fights with the city driving this state’s economy, so be it,” Landrieu wrote on X. “But I won’t let him lie about New Orleans. New Orleans is an asset.
“Undercutting New Orleans punishes Louisiana,” he wrote. “It’s time to end the war on New Orleans.”
Landry then posted an announcement from the governor’s office later that day touting Louisiana as first in the nation for announced capital investment, saying, “Hey Mitch! Just wanted to make sure you saw this.”
He said Landrieu “left New Orleans in a state of rampant crime and violence, and did not do a thing to better its financial position. Please go back to DC and crawl into one of the WOKE defund the police holes!”
Landry also criticized Landrieu’s tenure as the Biden administration’s infrastructure czar.
“Remember when New Orleans received $2.4 billion in FEMA funding for infrastructure projects when Mitch was Mayor. Remember when Mitch was Biden’s ‘infrastructure czar.’ You probably don’t … considering the city has nothing to show for it! Talk about hating New Orleans… maybe sit this one out @MitchLandrieu!”
“Touched a nerve I see,” Landrieu replied. “Yes, I delivered record FEMA funding for New Orleans. And money to the state like the Calcasieu I-10 bridge you try to take credit for. All still being spent by you and the city.
“Sam Rayburn said ‘Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a good carpenter to build one.’ Your energy is better spent trying to help rather than tear down New Orleans.”
The exchange comes at a low point in the relationship between City Hall and the governor’s office as the two remain embroiled in a power struggle going back to the state’s decision to dissolve the Orleans Criminal District Clerk’s office earlier this year.
In the ensuing months, another Landry-backed legislative initiative eliminated several New Orleans judgeships, and most recently a New Orleans grand jury indicted Attorney General Liz Murrill over a letter she sent to the city’s elected leaders saying they could be removed from office for opposing the effort to combine the city’s criminal and civil district courts.
“Used to be, the saying was, ‘Where goes New Orleans, where goes the state,’” Landry said during a recent announcement involving Meta’s data center in northeast Louisiana. “Let me tell you what happened today: That has changed. ‘Where goes Louisiana will determine the fate of New Orleans.’”
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