South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem looked furious as she was repeatedly grilled about a fake meeting with Kim Jong Un and killing her pet dog on Sunday.
Noem – who was once considered a favorite to be former President Donald Trump's running mate – repeatedly glowered and furrowed her brows as journalist Peter Alexander asked her about the controversies she has faced over the past few months.
But Noem continued to dodge questions about a dubious claim in her memoir that she once met with the North Korean dictator and once again defended the killing of her pet dog, Cricket.
And when Alexander asked her point blank whether she thinks the story about her killing her dog cost her a chance to serve as Trump's vice president, Noem seemed to give Alexander the side eye as she declared that Trump ‘needs to pick someone that will help him win.'
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem looked furious as she was questioned about a fake meeting with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un and her chances at becoming vice president on Sunday
Noem repeatedly glowered and furrowed her brows as journalist Peter Alexander asked her about the controversies she has faced over the past few months on Sunday
Noem was widely considered to be on the top a list of potential running mates for the former president, until her book was released in May.
In one section of the book, No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How we Move America Forward, Noem describes meeting with international leaders – and erroneously includes North Korean leader Kim Jung Un.
‘Through my tenure on the House Armed Services Committee, I had the chance to travel to many countries to meet with world leaders – some who wanted our help, and some who didn't,' she writes in the book.
‘I remember when I met with the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I'm sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I'd been a children's pastor after all).'
The description of a supposed meeting between Un and herself was quickly challenged and described as implausible by experts on U.S.-North Korea relations, and was removed from later editions.
But Noem has refused to explain in any interview why the allegory was included.
‘There was no evidence that that meeting happened,' Alexander grilled her on Meet the Press on Sunday.
‘So how did it make it into your book, Governor?'
Her book initially claimed she once met with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, but was later changed to remove the anecdote
Still, Noem refused to answer.
‘I'm not going to talk about that,' she said, shaking her head and repeatedly blinking her eyes.
‘I took that line out of my book and I'm not going to talk about it.'
Noem has faced a slew of controversies since the release of her memoir, No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward
That answer prompted a back-and-forth between the South Dakota governor and Peter Alexander, who pressed on.
‘You wrote the book, though, so why was that line ever in your book if that didn't happen?' he asked.
But again, Noem dodged the question, simply stating: ‘I wrote the book, and I hope people read it.'
Still, Alexander persisted – asking her once again: ‘Just to put it to bed once and for all: Did you or did you not meet with Kim Jong Un?'
‘I am not going to talk about this,' Noem replied, bluntly.
In a statement to DailyMail.com Noem's spokesperson Ian Fury placed the blame on Noem's ghostwriter.
‘It was brought to our attention that the upcoming book ‘No Going Back' has two small errors,' Fury said. ‘This has been communicated to the ghostwriter and editor.'
‘Kim Jong Un was included in a list of world leaders and shouldn't have been. The Governor spoke with Nikki Haley in 2020 and met with her in 2021,' he added.
Fury cast scrutiny of the errors in Noem's book as biased, saying, ‘The media will, of course, try and make these tiny issues huge.'
Noem was widely considered to be on the top list of potential running mates for former President Donald Trump before her book was released in May
At another point in the interview on Sunday, Alexander asked Noem point blank whether she thought an anecdote about her killing her 14-month-old puppy, Cricket, cost her a chance at being Trump's vice president.
She has said that she took care of her ‘untrainable' dog the correct way by taking Cricket to a gravel pit and shooting her after aggressive behaviors like killing neighbor's chickens and trying to bite her.
Critics, though, say that Noem, who shot her dog while her kids were at school, could have rehomed the dog or surrendered to a shelter that may have been better equipped to train the animal.
‘I would say that's a story from 20 years ago about me protecting my children from a vicious animal,' Noem shot back on Sunday.
‘So we've covered that, and any mom in those situations – when you have an animal that's viciously killing livestock and attacking people – it's a tough decision, and the reason it's in my book is because that book is filled with challenging times and hard decisions.'
She tried to relaunch her campaign for vice president earlier this month, with a self-produced film in which she paints herself as a devotee to animals
As bad news from the book spread, Noem paused her book tour in early May, returning to South Dakota in reaction citing bad weather in the state that demanded her attention.
She tried to relaunch her campaign for vice president earlier this month, with a self-produced film in which she tries to cast herself as not just a political titan, but a devotee to animals who has always taken special care of critters -including one scene that is set to a background of the governor with a small dog.
But an anonymous senator told The Hill the dog-killing story ruined her chances at being the vice president.
‘She's just done, too much drama,' said one Republican senator who knows Trump's thinking on the matter.
Trump has since said that he made his choice for running mate, but has not told anyone of his decision yet.
The former president just said the pick would attend Thursday's presidential debate.
Noem admitted on Sunday that she did not receive any paperwork to vet her as a candidate
On Sunday, Noem admitted that she had not received any paperwork to vet her as a candidate.
‘I've had conversations with the president and I know he is the only one who will be making the decisions on who will be his vice president,' Noem told Alexander, dodging any questions about why she may not have been picked.
Yet Alexander pressed on.
‘You said that having a woman on the ticket would help Donald Trump win. And he said on this program last year that he liked the concept of running with a woman,' he said.
‘Only men, as you know, are on his short list right now: Burgum, Vance, Rubio. Would Donald Trump be making a mistake if he does not pick a woman as his running mate?' he asked.
‘You know, I think he needs to pick the best person for the job,' Noem replied, without answering the question.
‘He needs to pick someone that will help him win. And I think that President Trump is in a fantastic position to win this election.
‘He's strong, he's right on all the policies. He needs to pick somebody who will help him win and make sure that he's back in the White House fighting for America,' she continued, squinting her eyes once more.
It is believed Trump will make an official announcement about his choice for running mate either at, or shortly before, the Republican National Convention in July.
