Following the horrific New Year’s Eve terror attack in New Orleans, Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser expressed his frustration with the city’s leadership and their seeming unpreparedness. He made some good points, including wondering about the whereabouts of the bollards. He took direct aim at Mayor LaToya Cantrell: 

Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser leveled a series of broadsides at Mayor LaToya Cantrell's administration a day after the deadly attack on Bourbon Street, injecting a sharp political tone into the governmental response to the New Year's Day tragedy.

In three interviews with separate news outlets Thursday, Nungesser, a Republican who as lieutenant governor is the state's top tourism official, said he was frustrated with "excuses" from the city's Democratic mayor and her lieutenants related to the barriers that were missing from the entrance to Bourbon Street on Canal Street, and questioned Cantrell's leadership. 

"I've held my tongue long enough," said Nungesser. "Her lack of leadership is an embarrassment."

"I don't think anyone knew that — at least I didn't… — that these balusters were not in place. And to say they were under repair is not a good answer."

— Billy Nungesser, Louisiana Lt. Governor, was angered by the lack of barriers on Bourbon St.@BillyNungesser @EmmaRechenberg pic.twitter.com/RIoHQZ2enS

— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) January 2, 2025

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"I'm a little angry at the fact that some things in that French Quarter we've been trying to do for years have not gotten done," he told 4WWL.

Cantrell’s office fired back:

"The City of New Orleans will not be distracted by outside commentary and welcomes everyone to join the positive efforts of the unified command partners," Cantrell Deputy Press Secretary Kourtney Williams said in the statement.

Some bristled at what they felt was Nungesser’s injection of politics into a tragedy.

Ed Chervenak, a pollster and political analyst, called Nungesser's decision to throw barbs at New Orleans' leadership so soon after the attack a surprising political choice.

“It’s way too early to be criticizing any leadership right now. We should be mourning the victims, speaking about the valor of the first responders and trying to figure out exactly what motivated this individual to attack innocent people on Bourbon Street,” Chervenak said. "There will be plenty of opportunities to criticize the mayor, the police. But right now politics should be put to the side.”

But there are reasons people are asking questions:

ADMIN POST.

Listen to the absolute clowns of New Orleans trying to make excuses why the terrorist was able to drive straight up the street at pedestrians, a street that's had bollards for over a decade, but they didn't know how to work them.

The terrorist must've had prior… pic.twitter.com/U8XoDiBeAi

— Tommy Robinson 🇬🇧 (@TRobinsonNewEra) January 1, 2025

The terrorist must've had prior knowledge of this, why would he drive nearly 12hrs on an off chance?

While I agree that this isn’t the time to play politics, the question of why the bollards were being “repaired” during such a large-scale event needs to be answered. President Joe Biden has gone on record downplaying ISIS and saying that the greatest threat to the U.S. is “white supremacy,” and he and his administration have seemingly taken their eye off the real ball—which is radical Islamic terrorism. We've known that events in big cities are soft targets for over two decades now. To get sloppy with basic security measures is a failure worth calling out.

One lesson we can learn from this tragic event is that it’s time to stop playing DEI games, obsessing over pronouns, and minimizing the threat of terrorism in the name of political correctness. The incoming Trump administration will need to take an entirely different approach than Biden, who let in untold millions at the southern border and has barely focused on the dangers of ISIS.

Nungesser is right to ask a crucial question: where the hell were those bollards, and who made the decision to leave Bourbon Street essentially open to such an attack?