South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem speaks at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum during the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual convention in Houston, Texas, U.S. May 27, 2022.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem implied that President Joe Biden’s dog, Commander, should meet the same ill fate as her own 14-month-old dog Cricket, who she shot due to its aggressive behavior, as she revealed in her upcoming memoir.
“Joe Biden’s dog has attacked 24 Secret Service people. So how many people is enough people to be attacked and dangerously hurt before you make a decision on a dog?” Noem said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “That’s the question that the president should be held accountable to.”
The Biden administration announced in October that Commander had been relocated off White House grounds after various incidents where he had bitten or otherwise attacked U.S. Secret Service agents.
Noem’s Sunday comment comes as she faces considerable blowback from both Democrats and Republicans for anecdotes in her upcoming memoir about decisions to personally put down various family farm animals, including Cricket and an unnamed goat.
As she vies to become Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, some, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, have posited that the controversial memoir snippets have tanked her chances.
In the days since Noem’s memoir anecdotes went public, the South Dakota governor has been doing damage control to save her VP bid.
On Sunday, Noem doubled down on her defense to put down Cricket, claiming that the dog had been attacking her children and that the backlash she has received is politically motivated.
“This has been a story that my political opponents have tried to use against me for years,” Noem said. “They’re doing the same thing to me, that they do to Donald Trump every day.”