Kristi Noem‘s admission to killing a pet dog in a gravel pit might be the final nail in the coffin of her political career, but she’s not backing down on the decision or apologizing for it.
Noem, the Republican governor of South Dakota who was gunning to be named Donald Trump’s presidential running mate, is watching that particular aspiration circle the drain after she admitted to turning a gun on her 14-month-old wirehaired pointer puppy.
The drama began a few days ago, after U.K. publication The Guardian picked up an advance copy of Noem’s forthcoming book, No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong With Politics and How We Move America Forward, where she shared a startling tale about choosing to shoot her dog, Cricket.
In the book, she outlines how Cricket had an “aggressive personality” that didn’t mesh well in its role as a pheasant hunter. Noem writes how she tried to bring the young dog on a hunt with older dogs in an attempt to calm her down and show her how to behave, but Cricket ruined the hunt by going “out of her mind with excitement, chasing all those birds and having the time of her life.”
There were failed attempts with an electronic collar to bring Cricket under control and, later that day, Noem shared that Cricket killed a local family’s chicken by “crunching it to death with one bite, then dropping it to attack another,” reports The Guardian.
It was like Cricket was “a trained assassin,” she wrote, adding that the dog tried to bite her.
“I hated that dog,” Noem wrote, adding that Cricket had proved herself “untrainable,” “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with” and “less than worthless … as a hunting dog.”
“At that moment, I realized I had to put her down,” Noem added, saying she then led Cricket to a gravel pit.
“It was not a pleasant job,” she wrote, “but it had to be done. And after it was over, I realized another unpleasant job needed to be done.”
She continued her animal executions that day, explaining how she decided to kill one of her “nasty and mean” uncastrated male goats that was “disgusting, musky, rancid.”
She wrote how the goat had the same gravel pit fate as Cricket. It took two shotgun blasts to kill the goat, and she realized afterward that a nearby construction crew had watched her kill both animals.
In the book, according to The Guardian, she defended her decision to shoot the dog as a parallel to the difficult decisions that need to be made in politics.
Swift backlash
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American voters, no matter what political flag they waved, were quick to denounce Noem’s admission of puppy-shooting.
On X, people have called her “trash,” “evil” and “Jeffrey Dahmer with veneers.”
Trump allies told the New York Post that Noem has “no shot” at being named Trump’s running mate now.
“Trump isn’t a dog person necessarily,” one unnamed source said, “but I think he understands that you can’t choose a puppy killer as your pick, for blatantly obvious reasons.”
A second source told The Post that Trump “likes Kristi a lot,” but was “disappointed when hearing the ‘dog’ story.”
“It certainly has not enhanced her chances, but no decision has been made concerning any of the VP candidates,” this source added.
White House Press Sec. Karine Jean-Pierre also weighed in, calling the confession “a sad story.”
And Ryan Busse, a Democratic candidate for governor of Montana, wrote: “Anyone who has ever owned a birddog knows how disgusting, lazy and evil this is. Damn.”
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) also addressed Noem’s confession, writing in a statement on behalf of the “dogs of the DNC”: “Nothing could prepare us for the truly disturbing and horrifying passages Kristi Noem willingly chose to put in her new book. Our message is plain and simple: If you want elected officials who don’t brag about brutally killing their pets as part of their self-promotional book tour, then listen to our owners – and vote Democrat.”
The late-night talk show hosts are having a field day with the admission, too, with jokes and admonishments galore popping up in this week’s shows.
“No! Bad, psycho governor! No! Sit down! Bad! Stay! Stay away from dogs!” joked Stephen Colbert during Monday night’s show, while wielding a spray bottle.
“I don’t know how big her staff is, but I’m guessing she has at least a dozen people working for her, probably more. Not one of those dozen or dozens of people raised a hand and said, ‘Uh, governor? Do you think maybe not a great idea to share that story about shooting a whole petting zoo at your house? Maybe we save shooting a puppy in a gravel pit for the next book, you know?’” quipped Jimmy Kimmel.
“Yeah, people are really going to hate her next book, Kristi Noem: Then I Ate It,” said the wisecracking Jimmy Fallon.
Noem doubles down
In wake of all the backlash, Noem has doubled down multiple times, defending her decisions as part of farm life and drawing parallels to the tough choices that need to be made as a politician.
Responding to The Guardian’s initial report, she posted a screengrab of the article Friday, writing she also had to “put down” three horses recently.
“We love animals,” she said, “but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm. Sadly, we just had to put down three horses a few weeks ago that had been in our family for 25 years.”
And on Sunday, she addressed the scandal again — in a softer tone this time — writing that she “can understand why some people are upset about a 20 year old story of Cricket.”
However, she says she shared the story because she believes “people are looking for leaders who are authentic, willing to learn from the past, and don’t shy away from tough challenges.”
A career-killing distraction?
Republican strategist Alice Stewart said that while some Republican voters might appreciate the story “as a testament to her grit,” it ultimately creates a distraction for Noem.
“It’s never a good look when people think you’re mistreating animals,” Stewart told The Associated Press. “I have a dog I love like a child and I can’t imagine thinking about doing that, I can’t imagine doing that, and I can’t imagine writing about it in a book and telling all the world.”
Stewart, it appears, is not alone. A 2023 Pew poll found that 97 per cent of people with pets view them as a member of the family, suggesting that regardless of political persuasion, most Americans are likely to be turned off by Noem’s actions.
It’s not the first time Noem has grabbed national attention.
In 2019, she stood behind the state’s anti-meth campaign even as it became the subject of some mockery for the tagline “Meth. We’re on it.” Noem said the campaign got people talking about the methamphetamine epidemic and helped lead some to treatment.
Last month, Noem posted a nearly five-minute video on X (formerly Twitter) lavishing praise on a team of cosmetic dentists in Texas for giving her a smile she said she can be proud of. “I love my new family at Smile Texas!” she wrote.
South Dakota law bans gifts of over US$100 from lobbyists to public officials and their immediate family. A violation is a misdemeanour punishable by up to a year in jail and/or a $2,000 fine. The state attorney general’s office has declined to answer questions about whether the gift ban applies to people who are not registered lobbyists.
— With files from The Associated Press
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