South Dakota governor and Republican vice presidential contender Kristi Noem responded Friday to a news report about a section of her upcoming book in which she describes killing her 14-month-old dog.
“We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on farms,” he told X in a post above a headline from The Guardian about Noem’s upcoming book, “No Going Back.” One copy received.
The Guardian article describes a section of Noem’s book, due to be released next month, in which she describes shooting her dog after deciding he was “less than worthless” and “untrainable”. Have done.
According to her account, Noem grabbed her gun and led the dog, named Cricket, into a gravel pit.
“It was not a pleasant job, but it had to be done. And after it was over, I realized there was one more unpleasant thing to do,” Noem wrote.
She then began kicking a family goat, which she described as “nasty and mean.” Noem also took the goat to a gravel pit, where she said her first shot wounded the animal, but did not kill it. According to the book, he took another shell for his gun and killed the goat.
Noem wrote that when her daughter came home from school she looked confused and asked, “Hey, where’s Cricket?”
IRN News has not obtained Noem’s book or independently verified the section reported by The Guardian.
Noem was criticized on social media Friday; Some said they were “terrified”, while others posted photos of their dogs.
The Biden campaign posted photos of the president walking with the family dog Commander, who has had multiple bite incidents, and Vice President Kamala Harris hugging a dog.
Noem is widely seen as a top contender to be Trump’s running mate. He is in his second term as South Dakota governor, and previously served as the state’s sole representative in the U.S. House.
On Friday, reaction to the news of Noem’s description of killing her dog and goat included sarcasm, with Barack Obama adviser-turned-podcaster Tommy Vietor calling the governor “Jeffrey Dahmer with a veneer,” a known serial killer and The reference was to Noem’s recent scandal. Cosmetic dentistry treatment.
But most reactions, especially from dog lovers and people who hunt with dogs, simply expressed disgust.
Rick Wilson of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project called Noem “deliberately cruel” and “trash.” Ryan Busse, the Democratic candidate for governor of Montana, said: “Anyone who has ever owned a birddog knows how disgusting, lazy and evil it is. Shame.”
Noem herself posted a screengrab of the Guardian report – and an admission that she “shot down three horses” recently.
“We love animals,” she said, “but tough decisions like this happen all the time on the farm. Sadly, we had to give up three horses a few weeks ago that had been in our family for 25 years.
The governor also said that his book contained “more real, honest and politically incorrect stories that will shock the media”.
However, in the book, he summarizes his story about a dog named Cricket and an unnamed, uncastrated goat as follows, which may prove to be a contender for the biggest foible of an election year: “I think If I were a better politician I wouldn’t tell the story here.”
