Christian Smith
(The hill) – Nearly 40 percent of South Dakota residents said Gov. Kristi Noem (R) shooting your dog was vindicated after the governor faced backlash for sharing the story in her new memoir, according to new research.
About 38 percent of South Dakotans described the killing of their nearly 14-month-old hunting dog as justified, while about 58 percent said it was not justified, according to a survey published by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy and co-sponsored by South Dakota News Watch.
Noem, who was touted as a possible vice presidential pick for former President Trump, has been criticized after a stretch from her new memoir, “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward,” revealed how she shot her dog Cricket many years ago.
The governor of South Dakota said she shot the German wirehaired pointer on her property after hunting pheasants. Noem said she “hated” the dog and claimed it was responsible for attacking a neighbor’s chickens and trying to bite her. She also wrote about shooting and killing a “nasty and mean” goat that smelled bad and liked to chase her children, right after killing the dog.
Residents in the Mount Rushmore State varied in their opinions of the shooting based on their political party, according to the poll.
The majority of Democrats surveyed, or nearly 90 percent, said the shooting was unjustified, while 22 percent of Republicans said the same. More than half of Republicans surveyed, or about 58 percent, said it was justified, while nearly 11 percent of Democrats felt the same.
The majority of independents surveyed — nearly 61 percent — said the shooting was unjustified and nearly 26 percent said it was justified.
Male residents were sharply divided on the issue, with about 45 percent saying it was justified, 50 percent choosing unjustified and about 5 percent choosing undecided.
A greater number of women in the survey – 65 percent – did not consider this to be justified, while almost 32 percent did.
“Perhaps it’s not surprising that women were more critical of the murder of the family dog, but half of men thought the same thing,” Michael Card, professor emeritus of political science at the University of South Dakota, told South Dakota News. To attend. “There is a lot of room for the governor to grow, in order to repair her image.”
Noem faced a swarm of scrutiny earlier this month when several Democratic and conservative governors convicted her of killing her pet. She defended her actions and said the incident and her willingness to share it were a testament to her authenticity and ability to make difficult choices.
The survey was conducted among 500 registered voters in South Dakota from May 10-13. Its margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
