Christian Smith
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R) is drawing criticism from all corners of the media following the release of her book, which sparked backlash due to several anecdotes told in its pages.
Noem, who has long been considered a favorite to be former President Trump’s running mate, drew immediate and fierce criticism over stories she told involving Kim Jong Un and his decision to shoot and kill his dog.
The governor went around last week defending what she wrote, although she did little to quell the backlash – and probably made it worse. Even more notable is the fact that much of this information comes from conservative media outlets like Fox News and Newsmax, underscoring just how damaging this week has been for her.
“When you’re a center-right candidate, holding public office, and you lose Fox News and everyone on their platforms, that’s not a good thing,” said Republican strategist Dave Carney.
With Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence seemingly permanently estranged due to Pence’s refusal to reject the certification of President Biden’s victory, Noem was seen as the best choice to be Trump’s new running mate and was in his list in recent months.
In a sign of her growing popularity among the grassroots, she tied with businessman Vivek Ramaswamy in a poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February as the top choice for Trump’s second place.
But Noem soon found herself in the center of a firestorm as excerpts from his book have been released in recent weeks, first revealing the incident of killing his 14-month-old dog for bad behavior, which was heavily criticized.
The controversy continued after scrutiny was raised over Noem’s story involving a meeting with the North Korean dictator while she served on the House Armed Services Committee.
The passage detailing the encounter ended up being removed of the book, with a spokesperson saying Kim was “included on a list of world leaders and should not be.”
As the publication date approached, Noem embarked on an extensive media tour to promote the book, titled “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.” But the interviews — conducted with media outlets across the political spectrum — were largely filled with questions about these controversial anecdotes.
Noem sought to portray her story of shooting the dog as a demonstration of leadership skills and a willingness to take the necessary steps to defend her family.
“What I have learned in my years of public service, especially leading South Dakota through COVID, is that people look for leaders who are authentic, willing to learn from the past and who are not intimidated by difficult challenges,” she said in a post on social platform X.
But her explanations did not seem to please those who interviewed her and politicians on the left and right.
In an intense exchange with Fox Business host Stuart Varney on Tuesday, the anchor repeatedly pressed her on whether she believes the story is hurting her chances of being chosen as Trump’s running mate.
Noem avoided commenting directly on the impact of her choice, but Varney continued to ask whether Trump mentioned the dog’s story in their conversations.
“Enough, Stuart. This interview is ridiculous, what you are doing now,” Noem said. “So, you need to stop. That’s it. That’s it. Let’s talk about some real topics that matter to Americans.”
She also participated on Monday in a tense interview with NewsNation, The Hill’s sister news organization, in which anchor Elizabeth Vargas asked if she actually met with Kim.
“When this came to my attention, I immediately took action and asked for his name to be removed,” Noem said, but she avoided comment from Vargas on whether the story was true.
“That’s something I don’t think I’m going to talk about,” she replied. “I don’t talk about in-person meetings with world leaders and I’ll stay there.”
Noem made similar statements in response to questions from other media outlets about her account of the alleged meeting, including on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
The governor was even pressed hard during an interview on the right-wing news channel Newsmax by “Wake Up America” anchor Rob Finnerty, who told her that he originally would have put her at the top of Trump’s list of potential running mates before the book was released, but not now, due to stories like Kim’s reunion.
When Noem responded that she had been to the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, Finnerty asked if she “faced Kim Jong Un,” as she claims in the book. She responded again that when she became aware of this anecdote, she changed, but she said again that she would not discuss meetings with world leaders.
GOP strategist Saul Anuzis said Noem and her team “miscalculated” about how some of the stories in the book would be received by the public and argued that the truth is the best way to deal with controversies like this. He said a story like the dog story might be more common in the rural areas where Noem is from, but it wouldn’t be conveyed in the same way to urban and suburban Americans, who make up most of the country.
“Politically, people have to be aware of how they react to things like this that are outside of their culture or outside of their norm,” he said.
Even Megyn Kelly, one of the most prominent conservative commentators in the US, joined the controversy, accusing Noem of wanting to deceive the public in the interview with Vargas.
“She wrote it, read it, endorsed it and tried to sell it,” Kelly said, referring to Kim’s story.
The future of Noem’s book tour appears uncertain, at least for now. Fox News host Greg Gutfeld revealed Tuesday that Noem canceled a scheduled interview, and CNN anchor Dana Bash announced during her show Wednesday that Noem “abruptly” canceled her appearance as well.
A spokesperson for Noem said RealClearPolitics that the governor was returning to South Dakota ahead of some approaching storms, also canceling an interview with the outlet scheduled for Thursday.
The Hill has reached out to Noem’s office for comment on the cancellations and whether future dates will be set for the tour.
Carney said the country’s emotional connection to dogs and other pets can be felt just by seeing how dominant commercials for dog food and other products are on television. He said that even if it was necessary to put the dog down, choosing to mention the story in the book was not smart.
He added that Noem is not improving the situation by avoiding a direct answer to the questions she has been receiving.
“Stuart Varney is not some kind of clingy reporter. He’s a business guy. He talks about the news,” Carney said. “You are hostile towards him. I don’t know what tone they’re trying to set, but [she] You don’t seem to be getting the best advice.”
Anuzis said he doesn’t think these stories will be definitive in Trump’s decision on choosing a running mate. But he noted that Trump will likely decide based on who will help him most — and Noem’s controversies wouldn’t be helpful, at the very least.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily a defining issue, but it could be the final straw, so to speak, when you add up all the other things you’re looking at your candidates for,” he said.
