Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota was hit with a deluge of criticism for saying she shot her family dog.
But the GOP politician said on Sunday that President Joe Biden should take a leaf out of her playbook when it comes to pet care.
“Joe Biden's dog has attacked 24 Secret Service people. So, how many people is enough people to be attacked and dangerously hurt before you make a decision on a dog and what to do with it?” Noem said of Biden's family dog, Commander, in an appearance on CBS's “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
Commander bit US Secret Service agents on at least 24 occasions, CNN reported in February, citing documents it had obtained from the USSS. The German shepherd, a gift from Biden's brother and sister-in-law, was removed from the White House in October.
Noem, however, was evasive when host Margaret Brennan asked if she was suggesting that Commander be shot too.
“That's what the president should be accountable to,” Noem told Brennan. “What is the number?”
Host: At the end of the book you say, the very first thing you would do if you got to the WH that was different from Biden, is you would make sure Biden's dog was nowhere on the grounds. Commander say hello to cricket. Are you trying to look tough? pic.twitter.com/oAlQBHDCmd
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 5, 2024
Representatives for Noem and Biden didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.
Noem was widely criticized after she revealed in her forthcoming memoir, “No Going Back,” that she shot and killed her 14-month-old dog, Cricket for being “untrainable” and “dangerous,” per an excerpt obtained by The New York Times.
“I hated that dog,” Noem wrote in her book, which is set to be published on Tuesday.
In her book, Noem also referenced Commander, and suggested that the Bidens' dog meet the same fate Cricket did. The South Dakota Republican wrote that the first thing she would do if elected president would be to make sure that Commander is “nowhere on the grounds.”
“Commander, say hello to Cricket for me,” Noem wrote in her memoir, per an excerpt obtained by CNN.
The strange tale of Noem's dead dog comes at a crucial moment for GOP vice-president hopefuls and in the middle of an intense fundraising season. Former President Donald Trump's campaign said it raised more than $76 million in April, Politico reported on Saturday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
And even though Trump is facing multiple lawsuits, several GOP politicians have been eagerly positioning themselves as his potential running mate.
Noem, who was reelected governor in 2022, is one of many contenders on Trump's list, which includes names like Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, and Ohio's Sen. JD Vance.
“I will do everything I can to help him win and save this country,” Noem said of Trump when she endorsed him in September.
