Kristi Noem Is Gunning for Biden’s Dog

After shooting her own dog, Kristi Noem now seems to be gunning for Joe Biden’s pooch, Commander. In a trainwreck of an interview, Noem defended a passage where she seems to suggest Commander should be shot. She also defended her decision to remove a part of the book where she falsely claimed she met North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan confronted the South Dakota governor about a previously unreported passage of her upcoming book — No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward — where Noem claimed that Biden’s dog, Commander, should meet her own deceased pup, Cricket — presumably in the afterlife. In the book, Noem wrote that she shot Cricket because she “hated” the 14-month-old dog who she called “dangerous,” “untrainable,” and “less than worthless as a hunting dog” after Cricket allegedly killed some chickens and moved to bite Noem.

“At the end of the book, you say the very first thing you would do if you got to the White House that was different from Joe Biden is that you’d make sure ‘Joe Biden’s dog was nowhere on the grounds. Commander, say hello to Cricket.’ Are you doing this to try to look tough?” Brennan asked.

“Well, number one, Joe Biden’s dog has attacked 24 Secret Service people,” Noem said. “So how many people is enough people to be attacked and dangerously hurt before you make a decision on a dog and what to do with it?”

“Well he’s not living at the White House anymore,” Brennan interjected. Commander was removed from the White House and sent to live with other members of the Biden family after the German Shepherd bit Secret Service personnel on at least 24 occasions.

“That’s a question that the president should be held accountable to,” Noem replied.

“You’re saying [Commander] should be shot?” Brennan asked incredulously.

“That’s what the president should be accountable to. What is the number?” Noem said.

In another embarrassing exchange for Noem, Brennan asked about a passage in the book where the governor falsely claimed she met Kim Jong Un. “I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un,” Noem wrote in the book. “I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all).”

“Did you meet Kim Jong Un?” Brennan asked Noem.

“Well, as soon as this was brought to my attention, I certainly made some changes and looked at this passage, and I’ve met with many, many world leaders,” Noem said. “I’ve traveled around the world. As soon as it was brought to my attention, we went forward and have made some edits. So I’m glad that this book is being released in a couple of days, and that those edits will be in place, and that people will have the updated version.”

“So you did not meet with Kim Jong Un? That’s what you’re saying,” Brennan clarified.

“No, I’ve met with many, many world leaders, many world leaders,” Noem said. “I’ve traveled around the world… I’m not going to talk about my specific meetings with world leaders, I’m just not going to do that. This anecdote shouldn’t have been in the book, and as soon as it was brought to my attention, I made sure that that was adjusted.”

Noem later clarified that she had never been to North Korea but she had visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). “South Korea is a treaty ally. North Korea is a nuclear armed adversary, so that’s a pretty big thing to confuse,” Brennan pointed out, adding, “I know you read this book before it was published because you released video of your recording of the audiobook. You didn’t catch these errors when you were recording it?”

“Well, Margaret, as soon as it was brought to my attention, I took action to make sure that it was reflected,” Noem said.

“You’re not taking responsibility for the mistakes in the book?” Brennan later asked.

“I am saying that this book is very, very good,” Noem responded. “I’ve met with many world leaders, and… world leaders that I’ve met with that are in this book, there are many that I met with that are not in this book. And this is an anecdote that I asked to have removed, because I think it’s appropriate at this point in time. But I’m not going to talk to you about those personal meetings that I’ve had with world leaders.”

These missteps in the book have cost Noem politically. They may have cemented Trump’s decision not to choose her as VP (sources tell Rolling Stone Trump is “disgusted” that Noem shot Cricket) and led to the cancellation of her headlining at least one fundraiser. Noem was slated to speak at a Republican fundraiser in Colorado, but organizers canceled the event because it received “numerous threats and/or death threats,” according to Jefferson County Republican Party Chair Nancy Pallozzi.

After all this, the No Going Back author may be wishing she could do just that.

More from Rolling Stone

• Kristi Noem Keeps Refusing to Admit She Never Met Kim Jong Un

• 'Politico' Misses Mark in Story on Who's Funding Pro-Palestine Protests Against Biden

• GOP Governor Accuses Biden of 'Buying' Votes by Forgiving Student Debt

Best of Rolling Stone

• The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign

• Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal

• The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence