Former President Donald Trump came to the defense of South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem regarding a controversial anecdote from her latest book where she discussed killing a nearly 14-month-old puppy.
“I think [Noem’s] terrific. A couple of rough stories, there’s no question about it,” Trump said during a podcast interview released Tuesday with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. “And when explained — the dog story, people hear that and people from different parts of the country probably feel a bit differently, but that’s a tough story.”
“She had a bad week. We all have bad weeks,” the Republican nominee added.
“Until this week, she was doing incredibly well. And she got hit hard, and sometimes you do books, and you have some guy writing a book and you maybe don’t read it as carefully, you know,” Trump concluded. “You have ghostwriters too. They help you, and they, in this case, didn’t help too much.”
The incident in question revolves around Noem's account of having to kill her hunting dog, Cricket, due to her aggressive behavior toward livestock in her new book, No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.
She confessed, "I hated that dog."
Noem doubled down on the story and explained how she initially got Cricket to work as a bird-hunting dog but noted she had trouble training her. She allegedly attempted to correct her with discipline and shock collars, but the young pup just wasn't becoming the bird dog she'd wanted. She later decided to bring her on a hunt in hopes that her other hounds would teach her how to act.
However, Cricket ended up "chasing all those birds and having the time of her life."
"I can understand why some people are upset about a 20-year-old story of Cricket, one of the working dogs at our ranch," Noem wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, after facing waves of backlash from both Democrats and Republicans.
"What I learned from my years of public service ... is people are looking for leaders who are authentic, willing to learn from the past, and don’t shy away from tough challenges," she continued. "The fact is, South Dakota law states that dogs who attack and kill livestock can be put down. Given that Cricket had shown aggressive behavior toward people by biting them, I decided what I did. "
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Noem was considered one of Trump's top picks to be his running mate to go up against President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, but several insiders in the Trump campaign have allegedly tried to steer the former president in another direction.
