Gov. Kristi Noem (R-S.D) somehow made her dog killing story worse on Sunday when she suggested that President Joe Biden’s dog, Commander, should be killed too.
Noem, who wrote about executing her 14-month-old wirehair pointer, Cricket, for misbehaving, doubled down on Sunday in an interview with Margaret Brennan on CBS’ Face The Nation, by hinting that Commander, should be killed after he reportedly bit US Secret Service agents at least 24 times at the White House and other locations.
“At the end of the book, you say the very first thing you would do if you got to the White House that was different from Joe Biden is, you’d make sure Joe Biden’s dog was nowhere on the grounds,” Brennan said. “‘Commander, say hello to Cricket.’ Are you doing this to try to look tough? Do you still think you have a shot at being V.P?”
“Well, number one, Joe Biden’s dog has attacked 24 Secret Service people,” Noem responded. “So, how many people is enough people to be attacked and dangerously hurt before you make a decision on a dog and what to do about it?”
“You’re saying he should be shot?!” Brennan exclaimed.
“That’s what the president should be held accountable to,” Noem responded. “What is the number? And I would say about the Republicans criticizing me, these are the same Republicans who criticized me during COVID. They’ve criticized me when I’ve made other decisions in South Dakota to protect my state.”
In addition to the dog killing, Noem is also facing backlash over a blatantly false claim in her book that she met North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un while she was serving as a back-bencher in Congress.
“Through my tenure on the House Armed Services Committee,” Noem wrote in her book. “I had the chance to travel to many countries to meet with world leaders. I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all).”
Noem’s spokesperson, Ian Fury, seemed to admit that the story was false, telling Politico: “We’ve been made aware that the publisher will be addressing conflated world leaders’ names in the book before it is released.”
On Sunday, Noem refused to answer when she was asked outright by Brennan if she ever met Kim Jong Un.
“I met with many, many world leaders, many world leaders,” Noem said. “I’ve traveled around the world. I think I’ve talked extensively in this book about my time serving in Congress, my time as governor, before governor, some of the travels that I’ve had, I’m not going to talk about my specific meetings with world leaders. I’m just not going to do that. This anecdote shouldn’t have been in the book. And as soon as it was brought to my attention, I made sure that that was adjusted.”
