Embattled New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is under fire again – this time for being filmed yelling and flipping the bird at riders on a Mardi Gras parade float.
The short clip shows the Democratic leader, 50, cheering from stands at Gallier Hall downtown, appearing to cheer on in support of the Krewe of Tucks parade before raising her middle finger to the crowd.
The mayor appears to shout at the floats passing by her: ‘I love you. God bless you. I’ll see you. Happy Mardi Gras. Enjoy your ride. So glad your ride was good. Love you.’
It is unclear exactly what provoked Cantrell’s rude reaction and a statement from the mayor’s office released Sunday evening reads: ‘Mardi Gras is a time where satire and jest are on full display. The city has been enjoying a safe and healthy Carnival and is looking forward to continuing the celebration on Lundi Gras and Mardi Gras.’
Cantrell has faced a wave of criticism over the past few months, including for using $30,000 in taxpayer funds for first class tickets to Europe.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell flips the bird during the Krewe of Tucks Parade on Saturday in New Orleans
One Instagram user provided some possible context for Cantrell’s actions: ‘The floats pass Gallier Hall and MANY turn their backs. She responds with snark and…that.
‘Can’t blame the float riders at all. Show disapproval when it’s due,’ wrote Elzcat74.
Cantrell is currently facing a recall campaign that is striving to collect enough signatures by Wednesday to put the measure on an election ballot.
A recent report indicated the petition organizers were more than 1,000 signatures away from their goal.
The organizers additionally filed a lawsuit last week, alleging that the New Orleans registrar Sandra Wilson had failed to carefully and accurately purge the voter rolls of ineligible voters – as is required yearly.
The suit alleges that there are more than 30,000 errors in the current rolls and hopes to reduce the overall number of eligible and active registered voters in the Orleans Parish.
If the rolls were successfully purged, the number of signatures required to trigger a recall would in turn fall as well.
Fox 8 political analyst Dr. Robert Collins said Cantrell’s most recent public controversy will not help the mayor’s cause as her constituents grow increasingly irritated with her behavior.
‘Her detractors are arguing that the mayor is out of control, she’s detached,’ he said.
‘Now, if you have a mayor that is giving an obscene hand gesture to people that are on a float, they’re obviously just going to take that video and run it on all their social media sites.
‘It reinforces their argument that the mayor is detached and out of control. It plays into the narrative of her detractors, of her opponents. So it was not a smart move on the part of the mayor,’ he added.
The Mardi Gras fiasco is the latest in a growing list of scandals stomached by Cantrell during her time in office.
The mayor had nearly $30,000 in travel expenses, mostly by way of tickets to Europe, that the city informed her she needed to repay, lest the figure be docked from her salary.
Cantrell argued at the time that the travel upgrades were necessary due to health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. She added that the luxury travel accommodations were a ‘matter of safety, not of luxury.’
‘Anyone who wants to question how I protect myself just doesn’t understand the world black women walk in,’ she reportedly said.
One Instagram user provided some possible context for Cantrell’s gesture, writing that many on the parade float passing Gallier Hall turned their backs to the city’s leader
Pictured here: The Mr. Spock floats rolls through during the 2023 Krewe of Bacchus parade on February 19. According to the mayor’s office, ‘Mardi Gras is a time where satire and jest are on full display’
Cantrell is currently facing a recall effort that is attempting to gain enough signatures by Wednesday to get the recall on the ballot
The city’s Democrat leader has found herself in consistently hot water over a number of personal decisions she has made, primarily involving her habit of spending taxpayer dollars on luxury travel and residing in a city-owned apartment rent free
The mayor has also defended living in a free, city-owned luxury apartment in the city’s famed French Quarter.
Cantrell, who earns $188,000 a year, argued that it is not illegal for her to reside, rent free, in a $3,000/month apartment in Jackson Square.
‘The mayor’s usage of the city-owned apartment at the Pontalba is consistent with the usage of previous mayors,’ her communications director said.
‘In the 2013 franchise agreement there are no rules governing how that unit should be used and the FMC believes the mayor has no obligation to pay rent on that apartment because she’s using it in the same manner that previous mayors have enjoyed.’
