I think we should take a moment to simultaneously marvel at how Gov. Kristi Noem, who was arguably a rising star in the Republican Party, sabotaged her own political career.
In Noem’s memoir, "No Going Back," which is set for release on Tuesday, she wrote about how she killed her dog, Cricket. It wasn't a compassionate act to spare an aging dog from suffering; rather, it stemmed from Cricket's unruly behavior during a pheasant hunting excursion and the dog's tendency to bite people and attack other animals. According to Noem, Cricket was “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with," but she also admitted that she “hated that dog."
“At that moment,” Noem says, “I realized I had to put her down.”
According to the memoir, that's when Noem took Cricket to a gravel pit, where she shot her. The tale was meant to demonstrate her decisiveness when it comes to difficult tasks, but nothing about the way the story was presented made her look good at all. You don't have to be a dog owner to realize this wasn't a good story.
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And yet, somehow, the situation surrounding her memoir continues to get worse.
During her first appearance on a Sunday morning political show to promote her book, Gov. Noem spoke with CBS's Margaret Brennan in what can only be described as a disaster of an interview that brought to the forefront a fresh controversy.
In her memoir, she recounts a meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong-Un.
"I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un," she wrote in the memoir. "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)."
Her claim to have met with Kim Jong-Un has been challenged, and Brennan made quick work of seeking clarification of the story.
“Did you meet Kim Jong-Un?” she asked, point blank.
What came next was a classic non-answer response.
“You know, as soon as this was brought to my attention, I certainly made some changes and looked at this—this passage and I’ve met with many, many world leaders. I've traveled around the world,” Noem explained. "As soon as it was brought to my attention, we went forward and have made some edits. So I'm glad that this book is being released in a couple of days and that those edits will be in place and that people will-will have the updated version."
"So you did not meet with Kim Jong-Un, that's what you're saying," Brennan asked.
"I've met with many, many world leaders, many world leaders, 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."
Lol. Yikes pic.twitter.com/xLGKzfWbxn
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 5, 2024
If the story wasn't meant to be in the book, why couldn't she admit that the story was erroneously included? As someone who has written a few books, I'm relatively familiar with the process. Though I've never used a ghostwriter, I know from my experience that when a book goes through editing, the edits are typically approved by the author. At the very least, Noem should have read every iteration of the book after it was completed by her ghostwriter and gone through editing. In the end, it's her name on the cover, and the words belong to her. There's no excuse for this.
That said, it's a good thing this happened because Noem has been reportedly on Donald Trump's short list for his vice president, and had this book not come out, the weaknesses she could have brought to the ticket might not have been exposed until it was too late.
