Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who is reportedly on former President Donald Trump‘s vice presidential candidate list, is promoting her forthcoming memoir, No Going Back.
When an excerpt of the book detailing her decision to shoot and kill the family dog, 14-month-old Cricket, because it was “less than worthless” and “untrainable,” was released this weekend via The Guardian, Democrats and Republicans reacted with scorn.
On Sunday, Noem doubled down on her decision to kill Cricket, which she recounted in the memoir to portray herself as a tough decision maker (“people are looking for leaders who are authentic, willing to learn from the past, and don’t shy away from tough challenges”).
Noem added: “The fact is, South Dakota law states that dogs who attack and kill livestock can be put down. Given that Cricket had shown aggressive behavior toward people by biting them, I decided what I did.”
I can understand why some people are upset about a 20 year old story of Cricket, one of the working dogs at our ranch, in my upcoming book — No Going Back. The book is filled with many honest stories of my life, good and bad days, challenges, painful decisions, and lessons…
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) April 28, 2024
MAGA loyalist Wendy Patterson responded: “The problem that you have is that there are 49 other states who don’t shoot their dogs and your instincts as a leader didn’t take that into consideration.” Patterson added: “You should have learned that lesson when Romney received heavy pushback for putting his dog on the roof of his car for a family vacation.”
I can understand why some people are upset about a 20 year old story of Cricket, one of the working dogs at our ranch, in my upcoming book — No Going Back. The book is filled with many honest stories of my life, good and bad days, challenges, painful decisions, and lessons…
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) April 28, 2024
Former senior advisor to the 2016 Trump presidential campaign, lawyer A.J. Delgado was also critical of Noem’s decision making. She wrote: “BTW, liar, he never ‘killed’ livestock — only attacked, which every dog does (i.e., runs after them). Quit changing your story. Your career is OVER.”
And conservative Fox News anchor Tomi Lahren replied to Noem: “In case it isn’t obvious yet, this story is not landing. It is not a facet of rural life or ranching to shoot dogs.”