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South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has doubled down on her story about killing her dog, saying people are upset because “the fake news” twisted it.
The anecdote is included in her forthcoming memoir, a copy of which was obtained by The Guardian. In the book, Noem recounts killing an aggressive 14-month-old dog named Cricket by shooting it in a gravel pit, and then soon afterward shooting a “nasty and mean” goat of hers to death.
The story was received extremely poorly and has drawn criticism across the political spectrum.
Now, the governor — and potential Donald Trump vice presidential pick — is blaming the backlash on the media. In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday, Noem said:
Well, Sean, you know how the fake news works. They leave out some or most of the facts of a story, they put the worst spin on it, and that’s what’s happened in this case.
Noem said that Cricket was a working dog and not a puppy, and that it was a “hard decision” that she had made to protect her children from an aggressive dog that was “extremely dangerous.”
“I hope people really do buy this book and they find out the truth of this story,” Noem told Hannity, before later launching into her pitch for her political brand: “I tell the truth, and I make tough decisions.”
What she failed to account for was the American public’s deep sensitivity to animal welfare.
In her book, per The Guardian, Noem explains that she included the story to illustrate her no-nonsense approach to life and politics. What she failed to account for was the American public’s deep sensitivity to animal welfare.
On Sunday, Noem contended that what she had done was legal under state law.
“South Dakota law states that dogs who attack and kill livestock can be put down,” she wrote on X. “Given that Cricket had shown aggressive behavior toward people by biting them, I decided what I did.”