Donald Trump bizarrely defended embattled Governor Kristi Noem after sources claimed he was "disgusted" by her boasting about murdering her 14-month-old puppy, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Noem, who was once considered a top VP pick for Trump, faced backlash over detailing the killing of her family dog, Cricket, in her memoir, No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.
Noem sparked outrage when the excerpt from her book on shooting Cricket — which she claimed she did because the dog was too aggressive and attacked her neighbor's chickens — went viral and subsequently hurt her chances of being picked as Trump's running mate.
Trump was asked his thoughts on Noem's recent "bad press" and if the controversy impacted his decision to potentially select her as his running mate or for a cabinet position during an appearance on The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show.
"Well, until this week she was doing incredibly well," Trump replied before suggesting a ghostwriter was to blame for the dog-murdering fiasco.
"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. You have ghostwriters too. They help you, and they, in this case, didn’t help too much."
Trump then praised Noem for being a loyal supporter and doing a "great job" as governor of South Dakota.
"I think [Noem’s] terrific. She's been a supporter of mine from day one," Trump continued. "She did a great job of governor, as governor. You know, you look at South Dakota numbers and she's really done a great job."
"I think she's terrific. A couple of rough stories, there’s no question about it," the ex-president added. "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."
Trump added, "She had a bad week. We all have bad weeks."
As RadarOnline.com reported, insiders previously alleged Trump had been gossiping about Noem's shocking confession with political allies and confidants, in which he questioned why she would ever make the story public.
One source claimed it's “getting kind of ridiculous" how frequently "disgusted" Trump has been "taunting" her to his inner circle. Others noted those closest to the ex-president have been making sure he's seen negative headlines about Noem's puppy story by placing reports in front of him.