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The White House hasn’t had much to say about Gov. Kristi Noem’s controversial new book, though that changed after the South Dakota Republican suggested that President Joe Biden might need to shoot his dog, Commander.
“We find her comments from yesterday disturbing,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. “We find them absurd. And this is a country that loves dogs. And you have a leader talking about putting dogs down, killing them. And that’s a disturbing statement to say. I would say to her, she should probably stop digging herself in a hole.”
That was sound advice. In fact, it’s been nearly two weeks since The Guardian obtained a copy and reported on the governor’s new book, “No Going Back,” in which Noem wrote about shooting her 14-month-old family dog after deciding it was “untrainable.” But this was not a one-day story: The South Dakotan is eager to promote the book, which means she’s scheduled a great many media appearances, which also means she’s keeping the story alive by talking about it on a daily basis.
In fact, it was about 12 hours ago when Noem appeared on Newsmax and pointed to the dog-killing story as an example of her willingness to make “tough decisions.”
The comments came on the heels of a Politico report, which noted that the anecdote about Noem shooting Cricket was included in a draft of the governor’s first book, “before the publishing team nixed it.” The report, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, added that the GOP governor was eager to promote the story “because it showed a decisive person who was unwilling to be bound by namby-pamby niceties.”
It was ultimately removed from the first book, however, because others involved in the project “saw it as a bad-taste anecdote that would hurt her brand.”
Two years later, Noem has a second book, which includes the story that was left on the cutting room floor the first time around.
Complicating matters, this isn’t the only controversial tale in the text: The dog-killing story generated headlines because it’s true, but Noem’s story about North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is also in the news because it’s not true.
In her new book, the Republican claimed to have had a tense conversation with the North Korean leader during her time in Congress. Neither Noem nor anyone on her team have been willing to substantiate or defend the claim in any way.
In fact, asked about this during an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” the governor said:
“Well, 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. 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 have the updated version.”
When host Margaret Brennan sought to clarify matters, asking whether Noem was confirming that she did not, in fact, meet with Kim Jong Un, despite the claims in the book, the governor said a great many words, none of which answered the question directly. Eventually, she conceded, “This anecdote shouldn’t have been in the book.”
A day later, Noem again appeared on CBS, and was asked, “It’s a simple question: Did you or did you not meet with Kim Jong Un?” The governor stuck to her evasive talking points, concluding, “That’s the answer that I have for you, is that it will be adjusted.”
As the day wrapped up, Noem appeared on two conservative media outlets, both of which asked about the North Korea story. She refused to answer the questions.
It’s not at all unusual for politicians, especially those hoping to seek higher office, to release books, nearly all of which are forgettable. As Noem auditions for her party’s vice presidential nomination, and tries to impress Donald Trump, it’s likely that she thought “No Going Back” would help raise her profile in ways that would advance her ambitions.
It will instead become a chapter in future political-science textbooks on how to ruin a once-promising career.