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South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has been roundly criticized after including a story in her upcoming memoir about killing her family dog. And now it appears that she wants President Joe Biden’s German Shepherd to face a similar fate.
Ms Noem, a rumoured running mate for Donald Trump in the 2024 election, revealed in her book No Going Back that she shot her 14-month-old “working dog” Cricket because of his behaviour.
The story has attracted significant backlash in the past week, which Ms Noem has blamed on “fake news.”
This weekend, the Republican showed no signs of backing down from the subject, and turned her attention to another badly-behaved dog: Commander, the president’s German Shepherd.
In an interview on Sunday with CBS’s morning show Face The Nation, Ms Noem was asked about a passage in her memoir, where she said that one of the first things she would do if she was in charge would be to make sure Mr Biden’s dog was off the premises, and suggested the dog should be euthanized.
“What would I do if I was president on the first day in office in 2025? Thanks for asking. I happen to have a list. The first thing I’d do is make sure Joe Biden’s dog was nowhere on the grounds (‘Commander, say hello to Cricket for me’). But my dog, Foster, would sure be welcome. He comes with me to the capitol all the time and loves everyone,” reads the excerpt, according to CNN.
“Are you doing this to try to look tough?” CBS anchor Margaret Brennan asked Ms Noem about the passage.
“Joe Biden’s dog has attacked 24 Secret Service people,” she replied. “So how many people is enough people to be attacked and dangerously hurt before you make a decision on a dog?”
Documents released in February revealed that at least 24 incidents of biting took place at the White House and the president’s Delaware residence over a 10-month period – including one where an agent required six stitches.
“Well, he’s not living at the White House anymore,” Ms Brennan said, referring to Commander, leading Ms Noem to respond: “That’s the question that the President should be held accountable to.”
Ms Brennan then asked: “You’re saying he should be shot?”
“That what’s the president should be accountable to,” Ms Noem replied.
Ms Noem also defended her decision to end Cricket’s life, saying that it was a “choice she made over 20 years ago” to “protect” her family.
“This was a dangerous animal that was killing livestock and attacking people. And- and I had little children at the time, our operation had many kids running around and people in interaction with the public. And I made a difficult choice,” she said on Sunday.
Since the dog-killing revelations, Ms Noem has spent the past week defending her actions and faced criticism from political commentations, Democrats, and anti-Trump Republicans.
Political strategists also suggested that the tale may have affected her chances at becoming Donald Trump’s vice president pick.
“She’s DOA,” an ally of Mr Trump told The Hill last week, adding that it’s “not good” if you have to respond multiple times to a story.
