Governor Kristi Noem (R-SD) said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that she had to kill her dangerous dog, adding that President Joe Biden’s dog “has attacked 24 Secret Service people.”
Partial transcript as follows:
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, so you don’t agree with Mr. Trump’s statement there. I want to ask you again about the book. I- I know you know, this question is coming, because there’s been such an enormous backlash about your revelation that you shot and killed a Wirehair Pointer or named Cricket, who was 14 months old. You say in the book, she came from another family that struggled with her aggression, you’d been training her to hunt, she got too excited, ruined the hunt, and then attacked and killed some chickens. I wonder if you have regrets about sharing this story.
NOEM: You know, Margaret, this book is filled with vulnerable, painful moments in my life, filled with times where I’ve made very difficult decisions. The reason that this story is in the book because people need to understand who I am and some of those difficult decisions. This was a dangerous animal that was killing livestock and attacking people. And- and I had little children at the time, our operation had many kids running around and people in interaction with the public. And I made a difficult choice. I think you’re a mother too. And you have little kiddos, would you make a choice between your children or a dangerous animal? And I think I would ask everybody in the country to put themselves in that situation. Because that’s what I faced and I talk about it because what I’m tired of in this country is politicians who pretend to be something that they’re not. That they aren’t willing to have the hard conversations and look at the past and the tough decisions that they’ve made. I’m- what I talk about in the book extensively when people are able to get it on Tuesday is to see the whole story and the truth, not the spin that the media has put on this story. The media has put some or removed- removed most of the facts and and what the reason this is in there is because I want people to know that I don’t ask anybody else to take on my responsibilities. I understood my responsibility. And as a mom, I made a choice between protecting my children, and protecting them from a dangerous animal that was killing livestock and attacking people. And that’s a decision that I made–
BRENNAN: — Well, I-I described- I described- I think accurately how you wrote it up in the book. You didn’t say the dog attacked people, you said it had tried to bite you. And I just wonder why you concluded that a young dog was untrainable and not just take it to a shelter?
NOEM: This dog was a- well, this dog was a working dog. And it had come from a family that already had issues with this dog. And I had put months and months of training into this dog. This dog had gone to other trainers as well. So -so all of that is the facts of the story. And all of that shows that when you put someone in a position where they have to make a decision, and they want to protect their family, and protect children and other people from getting attacked from an animal that has attacked others and killed livestock, that’s the choice I made over 20 years ago. And that I didn’t ask somebody else to take- take that responsibility for me, that I had to make that decision myself.
BRENNAN: Because you put it in a part of a chapter called “Bad Day to Be a Goat.” And then after you shot the dog, you quote “realized another unpleasant job needed to be done walking back up to the yard, I spotted our billy goat.” You said he smelled and would chase kids. So you took him to the gravel pit and shot him twice. How- how do you justify that? How was the goat a threat? And I’m asking you this because it seems like you’re celebrating the killing of the animals.
NOEM: Not at all. This has been a story that my political opponents have tried to use against me for years. It’s well known in South Dakota, and it has been to other people. And I want the truth to be out there and to understand that- that these animals were attacking my children, that- that we live on a farm and ranch and the tough decisions are made many times. And it is- it is to protect people. And I’ll tell you the- the extremism of other people and how they have attacked me politically, I understand it. They’re doing the same thing to me, that they do to Donald Trump every day, every day. The constant attacks and coming after- during COVID, I was attacked at night after night for months after month for the decisions that I made. In fact, you and many other journalists attacked me every single day on TV for months for the decisions that I made in South Dakota, for my people to protect their freedoms–
BRENNAN: — I think we had a very, I think we had a very fair interview–
NOEM: So-so I’m used to being attacked–
BRENNAN: When you joined us ma’am at that time and I thanked you for answering questions on it. But on the- on this point, though, because you have been rumored to be a potential vice-presidential candidate, as you know. And former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said “killing the dog and then writing about it ended any possibility of her being picked as VP.” You talk multiple times about it. In fact, at the end of the book, you say the very first thing you would do if you got to the White House that was different from Joe Biden, is you’d make sure Joe Biden’s dog was nowhere on the grounds, Commander say hello to Cricket. Are you doing this to try to look tough? Do you still think that you have a shot at being a VP?
NOEM: Well, number one, 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 —
BRENNAN: — Well he’s not living at the White House anymore–
NOEM: — That’s the question that the President should be held accountable to.
BRENNAN: — You’re saying he should be shot?–
NOEM: — That what’s the president should be accountable to. What is- what is the number. And I would say about Republicans criticizing me. These are the same Republicans have criticized me during COVID. They’ve criticized me when I’ve made other decisions in South Dakota to protect my state. And my state today is extremely happy and thriving. We’re doing well. We’ve got thousands of people moving to our state, because they love the opportunities that are here and the businesses that have come and how we’ve gotten to be a state that has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation. Everybody has an opportunity for higher wages. We’ve got revenues and reserves, we paid off our debt. We’ve got a triple A credit rating, we’ve got a fully funded pension system. We were the first state in the nation to–
BRENNAN: — so you’re not going to retract the book? —
NOEM: — Bring a bill to prevent China–
BRENNAN: — Governor–
NOEM: — I- this book is a powerful book. It’s an honest book. It’s an honest book about- blueprint for America of what citizens can do here to take their country back. And I’m so proud of this book and- and what it will bring to people. I hope that they will buy it they’ll find a lot of truthful stories and we talk a lot about what we can use as an example from Donald Trump on how he has continued to be a real person, been genuine and been honest to people and that–
BRENNAN: — But if you have to retract it, or parts of it–
NOEM: — And that what bothers me most about politicians is when they’re fake. I’m not retracting anything. I’m not retracting anything. No this book–
BRENNAN: Alright, Governor thank you for taking the questions and joining us today. Face the Nation will be back in a minute, stay with us.
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
