Former President Donald Trump recently defended South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem amidst the backlash she received over revelations in her new book about shooting and killing her 14-month-old dog, Cricket. In an interview with radio hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton, Trump described Noem as a “terrific person” and remarked, “She had a bad week. We all have bad weeks.”
Trump acknowledged that the controversy stemming from the book has been tough on Noem, noting, “Couple of rough stories, there’s no question about it. Until this week, she was doing incredibly well. And she got hit hard and sometimes you do books and you have some guy writing a book and you maybe don’t read it as carefully, you know. You have ghost writers do it, they help you, and they, in this case, didn’t help too much.”
Noem faced intense criticism for disclosing in her book, No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward, that she shot and killed her dog because it was “untrainable,” “dangerous,” and “less than worthless … as a hunting dog.” Additionally, she suggested that President Joe Biden’s dog, Commander, should suffer a similar fate due to the German shepherd’s history of biting Secret Service personnel. Commander was removed from the White House in October following these incidents.
Further controversy surrounded Noem’s book due to a false claim about meeting North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, which the publisher has since announced will be removed in future reprints.
Despite these controversies, Noem is scheduled to attend a fundraiser for Trump in Manhattan, where she will join other potential vice-presidential candidates. However, CNN reported that Noem had already fallen off Trump’s shortlist for vice presidential candidates prior to the recent revelations.
In response to Trump’s defense of Noem, Biden campaign spokesperson James Singer stated, “At the Biden campaign, we are proudly anti-puppy-killing and don’t think those who murder puppies are ‘terrific.’”
