South Dakota Representative Kristi Noem (R) was pressured by Fox News presenter Jesse Watters to shoot her dog due to its persistent misbehavior.
Noem relates the tale of Cricket in her new book. According to the governor, Cricket was a vicious dog who enjoyed biting both humans and other animals.
Cricket had escaped and slaughtered a number of poultry when Noem brought the dog to a gravel pit and shot it to death.
The story’s inclusion has garnered considerable negative press coverage from various political perspectives.
There is even speculation that her political prospects may suffer as a result of the rumored inclusion in the running mate shortlist for Donald Trump.
The former president, meanwhile, was reportedly “appalled” by the story.
Noem attempted to provide a defense for her actions in a recent appearance on Jesse Watters Primetime.
“What happens if you are debating Kamala Harris and she says, ‘Well, wait a second, you shot your dog and you wrote a book about it, bragging about it. How can you be vice president?’” Watters said.
“That story was a choice as a mom. The safety of my children versus a dangerous dog that was killing livestock and attacking people. So, this book that I’ve written is full of stories of my past, hard decisions. And I told the truth.” Noem responded.
“Do you regret telling that story? Do you understand why people don’t like that story?” Watters asked as a follow up.
“Everybody’s known that story for years. Most people don’t realize that in South Dakota they’ve used that story to attack me and my political campaigns for years. I wanted people to know the truth. This dog was vicious, it was dangerous, it was killing livestock for the joy of it and attacking people. And I had a choice between keeping my family safe, I had little kids at the time, a very public business of inviting people to come out and enjoy our hunting lodge and our business, and I don’t pass my responsibilities off to anybody else.” Noem said in response.
“So, you’re standing by the dog story?” Watters said.
“I’ll tell you what, it’s the facts,” Noem concluded.
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