Why Does Governor Jeff Landry Insist on Torturing Tigers?

Governor Jeff Landry wanted Louisiana State University to revive an old tradition: having a live tiger as a mascot at its football games.

This barbaric practice started in the mid-1930s , when some of the university’s athletics coaches got together and bought a tiger named Mike from a zoo in Little Rock , Arkansas .

Since then, successive generations of Mikes have been made to serve as LSU football mascots .

The last tiger to be treated this way was Mike VI , whose tenure at LSU lasted from 2007 until his death in 2016 .

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry spent months trying to convince LSU officials to adopt a tiger as a mascot.

He hired a Florida exotic animal trainer who has a history of animal abuse and neglect.

The tiger was hauled out during the LSU vs. Alabama game on November 9 , and in YouTube footage of it you can see him pacing uncomfortably around his tiny enclosure.

Jeff Landry believes torturing a tiger is an important part of the foundation of Louisiana ’s society.

He views compassion for other living creatures as risible “wokeness” that can be dismissed out of hand, says Julian Zelizer .

Zelizer: Landry's tiger-baiting reflects an obsession with hierarchy, authority, and dominance.