Lol, more like he protects Zoro because of his popularity. Notice how he purposefully keeps Zoro away from any strong opponents post-ts, only minor clashes at best. There’s no character more protected than Zoro post-ts aside from Shanks lmfao

Quite the contrary, Zoro is too strong and no bullshit type of character.
That's why he keeps villains away from Zoro. Zoro is the ingredient that shatters their hype.
Doflamingo gets protected by Fujitora because Doflamingo would straight up get clapped.
He keeps Zoro away from Kaido in Kuri because he needs to maintain Kaido's untouchable hype.
We all know if Zoro and Kaido met back then, the untouchable hype would have been shattered way before rooftop.
He protects Big Meme from Zoro in WCI while literally saying Zoro was needed to fight her.
You got it all backwards and the usual suspect is, like always, our well known friend Reading Comprehension.
Only the final panel is relevant tbh. But dont get your hopes up. As
@grey matter said, Lolda will find a way to keep Zoro from shining. He is scared of Zoro's popularity
Zoribros need to grow a pair...