South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, a potential running mate for presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, made headlines recently regarding her new book. The book titled "No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move American Forward" includes a controversial story about the killing of an unruly dog and a goat.
Obtained by The Guardian, the book is set to be released on May 7. Noem is expected to discuss the book on "Face the Nation" next week. In the book, she recounts the story of Cricket, a 14-month-old wirehaired pointer she was training for pheasant hunting.
Noem explained that the inclusion of this story was to demonstrate her willingness to tackle difficult and unpleasant tasks when necessary. The backlash against the governor was immediate, prompting her to address the issue on social media.
"I can understand why some people are upset about a 20 year old story of Cricket, one of the working dogs at our ranch, in my upcoming book — No Going Back," she wrote in a post on X, the platform formally known as Twitter. "The book is filled with many honest stories of my life, good and bad days, challenges, painful decisions, and lessons learned."
In her book, Noem writes that she took Cricket on a hunting trip with older dogs in hopes of calming down the wild puppy. Instead, Cricket chased the pheasants while "having the time of her life."
On the way home from the hunting trip, Noem writes that she stopped to talk to a family. Cricket got out of Noem's truck and attacked and killed some of the family's chickens, then bit the governor.
On Sunday, she defended her decision to kill the dog, saying that "South Dakota law states that dogs who attack and kill livestock can be put down."
"Given that Cricket had shown aggressive behavior toward people by biting them, I decided what I did," Noem wrote. "Whether running the ranch or in politics, I have never passed on my responsibilities to anyone else to handle. Even if it's hard and painful. I followed the law and was being a responsible parent, dog owner, and neighbor."
Within the pages of her book, Noem recounts the tale of a "nasty and mean" male goat that belonged to her family. This foul-smelling goat had a penchant for chasing her children, prompting her to make the decision to end its life. After the first shot failed to take the goat down, she retrieved another shell from her truck and fired again, successfully putting an end to the goat's reign of terror.
These revelations sparked immediate backlash on various social media platforms, with many users sharing images of their beloved pets in response. The story was also leveraged by President Joe Biden's reelection campaign, who shared it alongside a photo of Noem standing alongside Trump.
This is not the first instance where Noem has found herself in the national spotlight.
Just a month prior, she released a video reminiscent of an infomercial, detailing her experience with cosmetic dental surgery that garnered attention beyond state lines.
In a video lasting almost five minutes, she commended a team of cosmetic dentists in Texas for transforming her smile into one she could take pride in. "I love my new family at Smile Texas!" she expressed.
In 2019, she staunchly supported the state's anti-meth campaign, despite facing ridicule for its slogan "Meth. We're on it." Noem defended the campaign, stating that it successfully initiated conversations about the methamphetamine crisis and guided individuals towards seeking treatment.
