(ConservativeJournal.org) – South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) crushed her chances at being selected as Trump’s running mate due to the popular backlash against her stemming from a personal story she relayed in her upcoming book, “No Going Back.” The tale was excerpted and relayed in major media over the past few weeks, and drew harsh criticism from Republicans and Democrats.
Noem recounted a 20-year-old tale of how she had a female 14-month-old work dog on her family’s ranch. The dog was aggressive, killing livestock and snapping at people. Noem explained that she made the difficult decision to put the dog down as it was a liability. The last straw was when the dog, Cricket, escaped from the back of a truck and attacked her neighbor’s chickens, killing them one at a time by crushing their necks. Cricket also tried to bite Noem when she finally caught up with her.
Noem said she paid the neighbor for the lost property and helped her clean up the mess, but that was the moment she realized the dog had to be destroyed.
She additionally suggested the dog was “untrainable” and expressed her disdain for the animal, saying she “hated” it and suggesting it was “dangerous.” Critics claimed no dog is untrainable and Noem could have rehomed it.
Noem responded to former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrinch suggesting that the story killed her chances of being Trump’s VP candidate. She said that her Republican critics are the same Republicans that criticized her refusal to go along with controversial pandemic policies largely enacted by Democrats and moderate Republicans. She also pointed to her state’s thriving economy and increases in population due to people moving there.
When asked if she regretted sharing the story, she said that it was worth sharing to help people understand that she’s able to make the tough decisions that aren’t popular, but are right on principle. She qualified Cricket as a “dangerous animal” which had already destroyed livestock and was a danger to people, and highlighted that her children were small at the time. She added that putting the dog down was within state law as well as a part of her duty to protect her kids.
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