GOP Governor's Fawning 'Trump's America' Message Features A Glaring Flaw
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While most Americans were celebrating the 4th of July weekend, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) spent part of hers posing for frowny pictures intended to troll President Joe Biden.
It didn’t exactly go as she had hoped.
Noem posted images she described as “Trump’s America” and “Joe Biden’s America”:
#SparklersSuckpic.twitter.com/s45iB7eWrU
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) July 5, 2021
Her images of “Biden’s America” were pics of herself and her family looking sad. The image marked as “Trump’s America” looked like it might’ve been from last year’s Independence Day celebration at Mount Rushmore. However, Twitter sleuths were quick to notice that it was actually taken long before Donald Trump ever took office:
It appears the image that Kristi Noem used as an example of the Fourth of July in "Trump's America" was taken during the Obama Administration https://t.co/n4Oxgneeqxpic.twitter.com/1D3SrE8MFn
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) July 5, 2021
The image was cropped to remove the credit owed to photographer Matt Halvorson, who posted it on his website in 2015. At the time, he wrote that it was from “a few years ago” and a composite made by combining his photos of fireworks with one of his images of the landmark.
Fireworks were discontinued at Mount Rushmore in 2010 due to the “unacceptable risk of wildfire.” In addition, tribal leaders have objected to the displays, which take place on land they consider sacred.
Trump brought them back in 2020 over the objections of tribal leaders.
This year, the National Parks Service declined a request by South Dakota officials to hold a celebration involving fireworks. Noem went to court over the issue and lost.
Twitter users sounded off on the governor over her awkward tweet:
A nice July 4th weekend gift: #TrumpistTears. https://t.co/1Irit6o0ly
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) July 5, 2021
Sorry I missed this. I was too busy enjoying the ability to go outside with other groups of people again. https://t.co/FMxg1q98HY
— Ken Schultz (@kenschultz_) July 5, 2021
The governor of South Dakota stole a photo from @matt_halvorson, cropped out his name, and then claimed the photo was from "Trump's America" when the photo was created closer to a decade ago: https://t.co/VG8iCMJrhihttps://t.co/iYyVCgDIGX
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) July 5, 2021
Wow @KristiNoem check out these 555 ft 'sparklers' as tall as the Washington Monument me and thousands others saw in DC yesterday w the president for 17 minutes and no one attacked the Capitol, amazing #BidensAmericapic.twitter.com/3FyX0mqFVV
— Maria de los Angeles (@vicequeenmaria) July 5, 2021
Good God, you're the governor of a state, this is beyond embarrassing
— Ian Boudreau (@iboudreau) July 5, 2021
You'll never be president or vice president and using a pic of your family looking unhappy on Independence Day as the rest of us celebrate America is as cynical a use of human props as I've seen in a long time
Fight your own battles—don't exploit your children for political gain https://t.co/lQmXZd6cPs— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) July 5, 2021
Lol just say you don’t like spending time with your family and move on https://t.co/7n4122jh1u
— Emma Lipscomb (@em_lipsco) July 5, 2021
Love this Kristi!
One small note: “Trump’s America” should be people on ventilators.— Jay Black (@jayblackisfunny) July 5, 2021
Actually this is Trump's America: A domestic terrorist attack waged by white supremacists and other Trump Traitors to overturn our democracy. You either with the USA or Trump. Period. pic.twitter.com/VbUFIVLqR4
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) July 5, 2021
“Whatever’s left of my state after I let COVID run wild is gonna get burned down by wildfires! USA! USA!”
— Dennis Perkins (@DennisPerkins5) July 5, 2021
It's still early, but in the running for most nonsensical tweet of the day. https://t.co/pkivqJgftv
— Joe Hunter (@MrJoeHunter) July 5, 2021
The party of family values wants to be very clear about how miserable they are when made to spend time with their families. https://t.co/uikBN0Va89
— t. cashman avila (@tcashmanavila) July 5, 2021
The tears are real https://t.co/YRERAbVzTN
— GOPocalypse Now (@GOPocalypseNow) July 5, 2021
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.