Stephen Colbert scolds Kristi Noem for killing Cricket the puppy: ‘Bad Governor, sit!’

Stephen Colbert scolded South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem for killing her puppy, Cricket, as he lunged at her during Monday’s episode of The Late Show.

Noem, a potential running mate for Republican Donald Trump, sparked a firestorm after revealing in her upcoming memoir, No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward, that she killed the 14-month-old puppy .

During the show, Colbert poked fun at Noem for her “fascinating” confession about what she did to her late dog.

“No, no, bad psycho governor, no, sit down, bad, stay, stay away from dogs,” Colbert shouted as he squirted water from a squirt bottle.

“Look, I know it sounds horrible, but it’s much worse,” he added before saying, “Why did Cricket have to kick it?”

On her way home from a hunting trip where she took the puppy with older dogs, Noem wrote when she stopped to talk to a family, Cricket, a wire-haired pointer, got out of her truck and attacked and killed some of the family’s chickens: and bit then the governor.

Noem apologized profusely, wrote the distraught family a check for the deceased chickens and helped them dispose of the carcasses, she wrote. She added that Cricket “was the picture of joy” as the incident unfolded.

“I hated that dog,” writes Noem, who calls her “untrainable.”

In response, Colbert defended the puppy, saying that Cricket was “untrainable” because she was so young.

Noem mentioned in her book that Cricket “ruined the hunt” when she “went crazy with excitement chasing all those birds and having the time of her life.”

“But who among us has never seen a dog running through the fields, not a care in the world, and thought, ‘You deserve to die?'” Colbert said.

In the book, Noem recalls, “It was then that I realized I had to put her to sleep.”

Noem then said she led Cricket to a gravel pit and shot her.

Colbert said the book “sounded less like a political memoir and more like the scrolled manifesto of a man whose neighbors said, ‘He just kind of kept to himself, you know?’

In her book, Noem also mentioned that her family owned a “nasty and mean” male goat who smelled bad and liked to chase her children, so she decided to go ahead and kill the animal as well.

She wrote that the goat survived the first shot, so she went back to the truck, got another grenade, shot it again and killed it.

After taking Cricket’s life, Noem recalled her daughter asking, “Hey, where’s Cricket?”

The excerpts, first published by The Guardian, were immediately criticized on social media platforms, where many posted photos of their own pets. President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign resurfaced the story on social media, alongside a photo of Noem with Trump.

The Lincoln Project, a conservative group that opposes Trump, posted a video it called a “public service announcement” showing poorly behaved dogs and explaining that “shooting your dog in the face is not an option.”

“You kill old dogs, hurt dogs, and sick dogs humanely, not by shooting them and throwing them in a gravel pit,” wrote Rick Wilson of the Lincoln Project on this proves that it is cruelty.’

Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Wals also blasted Noem over the story, sharing a photo with his dog and writing, “Post a photo with your dog without shooting him and throwing him in a gravel pit. I’ll start.’

Meanwhile, Paws for Animal Rescue, a pet adoption service in South Dakota, released a statement saying no dog is untrainable.

The group said on Facebook: “PAWS Animal Rescue will not express our opinion on this specific situation. We do want to make a statement about ‘untrainable dogs’.

In response to the backlash, Noem responded on Sunday, saying she “understands why some people are upset about a 20-year-old story about Cricket.”

The Republican continued: “The book is full of many honest stories about my life, good and bad days, challenges, painful decisions and lessons learned. What I’ve learned from my years of public service, especially leading South Dakota through COVID, is that people are looking for leaders who are authentic, willing to learn from the past, and don’t shy away from difficult challenges.

“I hope everyone who reads this book will understand that I am always working to make the best decisions possible for the people in my life.”

“The fact is that South Dakota law states that dogs that attack and kill livestock can be put down. Since Cricket had shown aggressive behavior towards humans by biting them, I decided what I did. Whether running the ranch or working in politics, I have never handed over my responsibilities to anyone else. Even though it is difficult and painful.

“I followed the law and was a responsible parent, dog owner and neighbor. As I explained in the book, it wasn’t easy. But often the easy way is not the right way.’

Noem claimed she included the story in her book to show that she was willing to do something “hard, messy and ugly” if she had to.

She previously used social media to defend herself on the same topic.

“We love animals, but on a farm these kinds of difficult decisions happen all the time,” she said on X.

‘Unfortunately, a few weeks ago we had to put down three horses that had been in our family for 25 years.’

She urged readers to pre-order her book if they want “more real, honest and politically incorrect stories that the media will crave.”

Republican strategist Alice Stewart said that while some Republican voters may appreciate the story “as a testament to her daring,” it ultimately creates a distraction for Noem.

“It’s never a good thing when people think you’re abusing animals,” Stewart said. “I have a dog that I love as a child and I can’t imagine thinking about doing that, I can’t imagine doing that, and I can’t imagine writing about it in a book and tell the whole world about it.