Asked if a story about killing a dog and a goat as well as a false claim to have met Kim Jong-un could have been put in her book by an editor acting as “a liberal plant”, the South Dakota governor and Republican vice-presidential hopeful Kristi Noem seemed to realise such a claim would be too outlandish even for her.
“The buck always stops with me,” Noem told Newsmax. “I take my own full responsibility. I wrote this book.”
No Going Back was published in the US on Tuesday. But for more than a week it has been at the centre of a political firestorm fueled by a Guardian report of its startling story of how Noem says she shot dead Cricket, a 14-month-old wirehaired pointer she deemed “untrainable”, and an unnamed goat Noem said menaced her children.
Noem has defended the story as an example of how she is willing to do unpleasant things in life and politics.
But the resulting revulsion has seemingly ended any hope of Noem being named running mate to Donald Trump, the former president and presumptive Republican nominee in November.
Noem’s claim to have met Kim, the North Korean dictator, unravelled amid reporting by the Dakota Scout. Noem’s publisher, Center Street, said it would remove the passage from future editions.
Amid a media tour in which Noem was challenged on CBS about an apparent threat to kill Joe Biden’s dog, the governor sought friendlier turf at Newsmax. Eric Bolling, a former Fox News host, duly attempted to give her a way to climb off her hurtling train of bad PR.
Bolling said: “You don’t write the whole book at once, you write a chapter or two, you send it to the editors and they edit. They read it, they add, they subtract.
“And here’s my question: the editor, was she possibly a plant? A liberal plant? Because I’m not sure either one of these stories, this dog story, the North Korea story, seems like the Kristi Noem I know.”
Noem said: “The buck always stops with me. I take my own full responsibility. I wrote this book and then I take the responsibility for what’s in it.”
But revelations continue. Axios reported that Noem had angled to become president of the National Rifle Association. Worse for Noem, though, was a report in which Politico said she tried to include the story of Cricket’s trip to the gravel pit in Not My First Rodeo, a book published in 2022.
Citing two sources, the site said Noem “wanted the story in because it showed a decisive person who was unwilling to be bound by namby-pamby niceties”.
But “agents, editors, publicists at Hachette … and a ghostwriter” reportedly “saw it as a bad-taste anecdote that would hurt her brand” and the tale was cut.
Regarding the claim to have met Kim, Noem’s spokesperson has said it was the result of a mistaken melding of world leaders’ names.
On the page, Noem calls Kim a “little tyrant”, of a kind she claims to have been used to staring down, having “been a children’s pastor”. Politico pointed to the real Kim’s physical heft, as “the 300lb despot with the gravity-defying haircut”.
On Tuesday, Noem was back on Newsmax. Things did not go well.
“The book’s called No Going Back,” her host, Rob Finnerty, said, adding part of its subtitle, “The Truth on What’s Wrong With Politics”.
“And I think part of … what’s wrong with politics today is that politicians aren’t honest with the American people. So, Governor, if you asked me a month ago who’s at the top of the list to run with Donald Trump, I would have said your name. If he asked me that same question this morning, I don’t even think you’re on the list.”
Noem said: “Really?”
Finnerty said: “Yes, really … and it’s because of things that have come out in this book, like your claims that you met Kim Jong-un.”
Noem, who complained about being interrupted on CBS, interrupted.
“I’ve been in the DMZ,” she said, referring to the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea.
Finnerty pressed on: “So here’s the quote from the book. You say, ‘I remember when I met North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants.’
“Governor, that never happened.”
Noem said: “What I have said in the book is that when I became aware of the content that we had it changed and that’s the way that it is. I’m not going to talk about my conversations with world leaders.”
She also claimed “a typical politician wouldn’t be [as] honest” as she had been about her error.
Finnerty said: “Governor, I’m not asking you about the details of this alleged meeting. I’m asking if the meeting actually happened. I don’t think it did. I think if it did, you’d be able to confirm for me that yes, it did.”
Noem said: “I’m not going to talk about this.”
Finnerty said: “You’re gonna continue to get asked this question.”
Noem said, “I don’t think so”, then pivoted to attacking Biden over his own questionable claims.
Finnerty said, “Governor, that’s a very good point. And I’m not deliberately trying to be adversarial … Donald Trump winning is very important. And I think that whoever he chooses to be his running mate, and again, I think at one point you were at the top of that list, like, you’re gonna get questions a lot more difficult than that.”
Things went no better on Fox Business.
Asked by Stuart Varney if she thought she was “in line” to be Trump’s running mate, Noem said she spoke to the former president “all the time”. Asked repeatedly if “the dog story” was discussed, she said: “Enough, Stuart. This interview is ridiculous which you are doing right now, so you need to stop.”
Varney stopped, saying Noem was out of time.
“Oh, well, of course we are,” Noem said.
