Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem faulted the “fake news” Wednesday on Fox News after being pressed on her response to the backlash of killing her dog.
Noem appeared on “Hannity” to discuss backlash after The Guardian previewed Noem’s new book, “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward,” revealing a passage where the Republican governor recounts shooting her dog, Cricket. Fox host Sean Hannity began by giving Noem a “chance to explain” her side of the issue.
“Well Sean, you know how the fake news works. They leave out some or most of the facts of the story, they put the worst spin on it and that’s what’s happened in this case. I hope people really do buy this book and they find out the truth of this story. Because the truth of this story is that this was a working dog, it was not a puppy,” Noem stated. “It was a dog that was extremely dangerous, it had come to us from a family who found her way too aggressive. We were her second chance and the day she was put down was the day that she massacred livestock that were part of our neighbors, she attacked me, and it was a hard decision.”
Noem continued to state her book is “filled with tough, challenging decisions” which was why she included the story about Cricket. The Republican governor added that while she has been attacked before by critics, she chose to protect her children’s “safety” from a “dangerous animal.”
“The reason it’s in the book is because this book is filled with tough, challenging decisions that I’ve had to make throughout my life. I hope that people understand from this that what the point of the story is is that most politicians, they will run from the truth, they will shy away and hide from making tough decisions. I don’t do either of those. I tell the truth and I make tough decisions.”
“People attacked me during Covid for keeping my state open, they called me wrong, and attacked me night after night on TV for not doing mandates and not forcing people to get vaccines or wear masks. They’re doing it again now with this. I just hope people will read the book, find out the truth because this was a dangerous animal. I had a choice between keeping my small children and other people safe or a dangerous animal, and I chose the safety of my children,” Noem stated.
Following the release of The Guardian’s piece on the governor’s story, Noem reacted to the push back of her story through an online post.
The governor stated the decision to kill the 14-month-old dog was “tough,” however, “decisions like this happen all the time on a farm.”Continuing her statement by promoting the book, Noem noted that during the time of the incident they just had to “put down 3 horses a few weeks ago that had been in our family for 25 years.”