Louisiana Governor Shares Tone-Deaf Tweet About Dining At Restaurant Amid New Orleans Tragedy

The governor of Louisiana talked Wednesday about... what restaurant he recently visited.


587
587 points

Bon Ton Prime Rib is a restaurant on Magazine Street in New Orleans, one that opened in November.

“The old brick walls glowed warmly again and the woodwork of half-circle transoms over the louvered windows cast shadows on the high ceiling. People ordered étouffée and crabmeat au gratin, but now these dishes arrived with grand flourish, wheeled on carts to tables and deeply-set booths around the room,” NOLA.com said when the restaurant opened.

“The prime rib was the star of the show–cooked to perfection, tender, and bursting with flavor,” a top review of the establishment on Yelp says.

Another recent patron of the restaurant is Lousiana Gov. Jeff Landry. The Republican governor on Wednesday posted to X a picture of himself as part of a group outside the restaurant, stating, “Ate dinner tonight in New Orleans. Proud to be a part of this incredibly resilient city. See everyone at the game tomorrow!”

The “game” is the Sugar Bowl, a college football playoff game that was scheduled to be played Wednesday night but was postponed until Thursday afternoon following the attack. This year’s Super Bowl will also be played in New Orleans in February. Landry, earlier in the day, had issued an emergency declaration 

“The Superdome and surrounding area is safe but I’ve always said that the safety of this entire city is something that is always paramount to me,” Landry said, per CBS News.

The post came after a deadly day in New Orleans, where a man claiming ties to ISIS slammed a car into a crowd on Bourbon Street, killing at least 15 people and injuring numerous others. The suspect has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar and the FBI is investigating the attack as terrorism.

There have been a couple of different reactions to Landry’s dinner post: Those calling it tone-deaf for him to go out to a luxurious dinner so soon after a possible terrorist attack, and also a general attitude, among elected officials, that encouraging tourists that New Orleans remains a safe destination appears to be the top priority.

Some reactions to Landry’s restaurant picture:

Featured image via screengrab



Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy.

Comments