Country music star Kacey Musgraves is reportedly hitting back at Kristi Noem after the former Homeland Security secretary took a music-themed political shot at her.
In a social media post on Monday, Noem threw her support behind Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Republican’s Senate race against Democrat James Talarico.
Noem’s dig at Musgraves came after Talarico attended one of the “Dry Spell” singer’s concerts over the weekend. The Democratic candidate later shared photos of himself smiling alongside the country performer.
“I’ll take @ellalangleymsic over Kacey Musgraves any day,” Noem wrote, tagging singer Ella Langley, whose song “Choosin’ Texas” has dominated the music charts for months.
The former South Dakota governor then tied the musical comparison directly to the Senate contest.
“And if I’m choosin’ Texas, I’ll take Ken Paxton over James Talarico,” Noem added.
Musgraves didn’t let the remark slide. In a Monday post to her more than 950,000 followers on X, the singer fired back with a pointed response.
“I don’t think you have a dog in this fight,” Musgraves wrote, “but if you did you would have shot it.”
The jab appeared to be a reference to a story Noem shared in her 2024 book, “No Going Back.” In it, she recounted taking her 14-month-old dog, a German wirehaired pointer named Cricket, to a gravel pit on her property and shooting it.
Noem later defended the decision, describing the dog as “extremely dangerous.”
The former governor served as Homeland Security secretary until President Trump fired her in March.
Musgraves was not the only singer to distance herself from Noem’s post. Langley, the 27-year-old artist Noem had praised in her message, also appeared to untag herself from the post.
The online spat highlights how the high-profile Texas Senate race between Paxton and Talarico has spilled over into the world of country music. Talarico’s appearance at the Musgraves concert, along with the photos he posted afterward, gave Noem an opening to contrast the two singers while making her pitch for the Republican candidate.
Noem’s post leaned on the title of Langley’s hit song, “Choosin’ Texas,” to frame her endorsement of Paxton, pairing her preference for Langley over Musgraves with her preference for Paxton over Talarico.
But the exchange quickly turned personal once Musgraves responded, with the singer reviving one of the most widely discussed episodes from Noem’s book. The anecdote about Cricket drew attention when the book was released in 2024, and Musgraves’ reply brought it back into the spotlight.
For Noem, the back-and-forth also came with an apparent snub from the very singer she had praised, as Langley appeared to remove her tag from the post rather than be associated with the political message.
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