Kristi Noem, the South Dakota governor and potential vice presidential choose for Donald Trump stirred controversy this week after revealing in her new e-book that she shot and killed her canine.
The Guardian shared content Friday from her upcoming book, No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward, wherein Noem said that she killed her 14-month-old wirehaired pointer, whom Noem meant to make use of for searching pheasants. When she took Cricket out for a hunt, the canine, who she stated had an “aggressive personality,” went “out of her mind with excitement, chasing all those birds and having the time of her life.” Cricket, she stated, behaved like a “educated murderer,” and was “harmful to anybody she got here in touch with.”
“I hated that dog,” Noem shared, describing the canine as “untrainable.”
Why did Noem kill her canine?
The choice to kill Cricket got here after Cricket attacked and killed an area farmer’s chickens, she stated. Noem apologized to the farmer and helped get rid of the chickens earlier than taking Cricket to a gravel pit and capturing the canine, which she referred to as an “unpleasant job.”
Noem wrote that she realized after killing Cricket that she ought to put down one other animal: a “nasty and mean” uncastrated goat on her household farm who “loved to chase” her kids. She shot and killed the goat moments earlier than her kids got here off the college bus. Her daughter Kennedy was confused by the scene, she recollects, asking “Hey, where’s Cricket?”
In a statement on X referring to the e-book excerpt, Noem wrote, “We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm. Sadly, we just had to put down 3 horses a few weeks ago that had been in our family for 25 years. If you want more real, honest, and politically INcorrect stories that’ll have the media gasping, preorder ‘No Going Back.’”
Noem faces swift backlash — however some present their assist
The backlash was swift in opposition to Noem, with the hashtags #KristiNoemIsAMonster and #PuppyKiller trending on X on Saturday. One social media person referred to as Noem “an embarrassment to America,” whereas others criticized her for not properly training Cricket, resulting in the canine’s dying.
“I’m appalled that anyone could be so soulless and heartless to shoot a puppy,” one wrote. “But then, think it’s cool to talk about it in a memoir like it’s something to be proud of! There’s no other way to look at @KristiNoem than as a pure, unadulterated psychopath!”
Colleen O’Brien, senior vice chairman of media relations at PETA, stated in a press release to Yahoo News, “Most Americans love their dogs, and we suspect that they’ll consider Gov. Noem a psychotic loony for letting this rambunctious puppy loose on chickens and then punishing her by deciding to personally blow her brains out rather than attempting to train her or find a more responsible guardian who could provide her with a proper home. Noem obviously fails to understand the vital political concepts of education, cooperation, compromise, and compassion.”
Still, some folks defended Noem’s actions: One X user wrote, “Kristi Noem did what she had to do, you may not agree with her, you may think she’s evil for doing it. But understand this, there is no room on a farm or ranch for a dog that kills livestock. Period.”
Another shared, “The dog slaughtered the neighbors entire flock of chickens. The neighbors were helpless to do anything. Noem tried to get the dog and the dog turned to bite her. She did what she had to do. Once a dog like that taste blood it’s over.”
Politicians additionally got here for Noem. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz shared a photo of him feeding his canine on X, together with the caption, “Post a picture with your dog that doesn’t involve shooting them and throwing them in a gravel pit. I’ll start.”
Ryan Busse, a Democratic candidate for governor of Montana, wrote on X, “Anyone who has ever owned a bird-dog knows how disgusting, lazy and evil this is. Damn.”
The Democratic National Committee additionally reacted to Noem killing her dog, issuing a press release on behalf of the “DNC, aka the Dogmocratic Party” that learn: “As DNC’s canine companions, we’ve heard a lot from our owners about just how extreme and dangerous Donald Trump and his far-right MAGA allies are — but nothing could prepare us for the truly disturbing and horrifying passages Kristi Noem willingly chose to put in her new book.”
Rick Wilson of the anti-Trump centrist motion committee The Lincoln Project referred to as Noem “trash” in a post on X. “Decades with hunting- and bird-dogs, and the number I’ve killed because they were chicken-sharp or had too much prey drive is ZERO,” he wrote. “Puppies need slow exposure to birds, and bird-scent. She killed a puppy because she was lazy at training bird dogs, not because it was a bad dog.”
A potential working mate for Trump
Noem, who grew to become South Dakota’s first feminine governor when she was elected in 2018, is on the list of possible VP candidates for Trump, who is ready to as soon as once more face off in opposition to President Biden within the 2024 election.
In a March city corridor, per one South Dakota newspaper, the Daily Republic, she responded to a query about her potential VP candidacy with, “I just want [Trump] to win, because it’s clear that it’s going to be a race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and I’ll do what I can to help him win. I’d rather stay with all of you, though, if you’ll keep me. This is my favorite job. I love this job. You guys are wonderful. And I just bought a new horse and I’m really hoping I get a chance to ride him once in a while.”
Noem’s other controversies
Her recent revelation that she killed her dog is not the first controversy Noem has faced.
The politician, who is also known for her staunch anti-abortion views, came under scrutiny in 2020, due to allegations that she abused her power in order to get her daughter approved for a real estate appraiser’s license after her daughter was initially denied. Noem denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the allegations as politically motivated attacks. Noem also faces a lawsuit filed by a consumer advocacy group, which alleges that she promoted a Texas dental company on social media without disclosing any financial relationship.
This year, three South Dakota tribes voted to ban Noem from their land after she stated at a community forum in Winner, S.D., “We’ve got some tribal leaders that I believe are personally benefiting from cartels being there, and that’s why they attack me every day.” After backlash from the tribes, Noem didn’t apologize for the feedback however as an alternative issued a statement urging tribal leaders to “banish the cartels from tribal lands.”
