Kristi Noem ‘had a shot’ at Trump VP slot before dog-killing boast, sources say

Kristi Noem, the Republican governor of South Dakota, “had a shot” at being named Donald Trump’s presidential running mate – but blew it by boasting about shooting her dog to death, a Trump insider reportedly said.

“She was already unlikely to be picked as VP but had a shot,” the New York Post quoted an unnamed Trump ally as saying.

“After this, it’s just impossible.”

Noem’s story of deciding to kill Cricket, a 14-month-old wirehair pointer she deemed useless for hunting and a danger to chickens, is contained in her forthcoming book.

No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong With Politics and How We Move America Forward, will be published next month. Last week, the Guardian obtained a copy and reported the startling tale of Noem and Cricket the dog, who Noem says she “hated”.

More startlingly still, Noem also describes killing – with two shotgun blasts – an unnamed, un-castrated male goat, which she deemed too smelly and unruly.

On the page, Noem defends her actions as indicative of the kinds of unpleasant things people have to do on farms and in politics, too. Since the story became public, she has doubled down, saying her family recently put down three horses and claiming she was legally obliged to kill Cricket because she killed a neighbour’s chickens.

According to a Guardian review, South Dakota law suggests Noem may have committed a class two misdemeanour by allowing Cricket to kill the chickens – and also may have contravened the law by killing the dog on her own property, after the attack on the chickens.

A spokesperson for Noem did not comment on that contention.

Having entered Congress in the hard-right Tea Party wave of 2010 and becoming governor of South Dakota in 2019, Noem has been widely seen to be a possible vice-presidential pick for Trump.

In the wake of revelations about how she killed Cricket and the unnamed goat, the latter animal with two shots separated by a walk back to Noem’s truck for more shells, most pundits have pronounced such hopes to be dead.

The Trump ally who spoke to the New York Post – while the former president sat on trial in the city, in his hush-money case over payments to an adult film star – said: “Trump isn’t a dog person necessarily but I think he understands that you can’t choose a puppy killer as your pick, for blatantly obvious reasons.”

The Post said another source from within the former president’s camp said that though Trump “likes Kristi a lot” he was “disappointed when hearing the ‘dog’ story”.

“It certainly has not enhanced her chances, but no decision has been made concerning any of the VP candidates,” the source reportedly said.

Other outlets reported similar disquiet.

“The median reaction when we checked around Trump world was ‘WTF’,” said Semafor, “although some noted her chances were considered slim already.”

Dog-killing aside, Noem’s other potential liabilities include links to a Texas cosmetic dentist and views on abortion bans – opposing exceptions for rape or incest – to the right even of Trump.

“Governor Noem just keeps proving over and over that she’s a lightweight,” Semafor quoted a source “close to the Trump campaign” as saying.

The Hill quoted an unnamed Trump ally as saying the story of Cricket and the goat guaranteed Noem would not be the VP pick.

“Anytime you have to respond more than once to a story, it’s not good,” the source reportedly said.

With Cricket and the unnamed goat in mind, the same source said that when it came to assessing Noem’s chances of a place on Trump’s ticket, “She’s DOA.”