Trump’s potential VP pick Kristi Noem gives campaign ‘Kamala problem’ as outrage grows over murder of her 14-month-old dog

Gov. Kristi Noem, 52, may have ruined her chances of becoming Donald Trump’s vice president after admitting in her new book to shooting her 14-month-old dog and a family goat.

A person nearby Trump’s campaign told Semafor that the governor of South Dakota has repeatedly proven that she is a “lightweight.” They also compared her to Vice President Kamala Harris and how wildly unpopular she has become.

“We cannot afford a Kamala problem,” the person noted.

Noem is on speculative lists that Trump, 77, is considering for his 2024 running mate, but excerpts from her forthcoming book No Going Back may have derailed those ambitions.

While the Republican governor acknowledged that “some people are angry” about revelations that she killed her dog Cricket 20 years ago, she maintains that people want authentic stories from politicians who don’t sugarcoat the hard stuff.

“Governor Noem continues to prove time and time again that she is a lightweight. We can’t afford a Kamala problem,” said a person close to Trump’s campaign. VP Harris is wildly unpopular with approval ratings in the 30s

“The fact is that South Dakota law provides that dogs that attack and kill livestock can be put down,” Noem wrote in a lengthy X-post on Sunday. ‘Since Cricket was showing aggressive behavior towards people 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,” she continued. ‘Even though it is difficult and painful. I followed the law and was a responsible parent, dog owner and neighbor.”

She admitted that a “better politician” wouldn’t even tell the story about killing their family farm dog Cricket while her children were at school. But immediately after the outrage, Noem revealed that her family had recently killed three old horses on the farm.

“We love animals, but on a farm these kinds of difficult decisions happen all the time,” Noem wrote on X on Friday in response to messages criticizing her for the story.

“Unfortunately, a few weeks ago we had to euthanize three horses that had been in our family for 25 years,” the governor added.

She concluded by promoting her book: “If you want more real, honest, and politically INcorrect stories that the media will crave, pre-order No Going Back.”

Former Trump communications official Alyssa Farah responded to Noem’s X-post with, “There are numerous organizations that rehome dogs from owners who are unable to properly train and care for them.”

Noem describes shooting and killing a 14-month-old dog before her children returned from school in her upcoming book No Going Back

She acknowledged on

No Turning Back: The Truth About What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward hits shelves May 7

“Governor Noem continues to prove time and time again that she is a lightweight,” said a person close to Trump’s 2024 campaign. “We cannot afford a Kamala problem.”

Harris is deeply unpopular for a vice president, and the most recent polls have her in her mid-30s and her job approved. Many critics — and even supporters of President Joe Biden — say the VP is “unlikable” and some call her laugh a “cackle.”

The vice president said in an interview with Drew Barrymore on her daytime talk show last week that it is misogynistic for people to criticize her smile because America is still getting used to having a female vice president.

Many speculate that Trump will also choose a woman as his running mate in 2024.

But those betting on Trump’s choice for vice president think Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina has the best chance: a 22 percent chance. While New York Rep. Elise Stefanik and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance — long considered potential favorites for the VP slot — sit at 9 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

Noem was among the women pitched as a good choice for the former president, but some say she was a good choice even before the revelations about the shooting of her dog emerged.

Not only do some of her policy positions align with those of the former president — such as her position on abortion — but she has also engaged in activities that Trump may not consider appropriate for a vice president. For example, last month she filmed an infomercial for a dental clinic in Texas.

Noem admits to killing her dog, leaving people wondering if she deliberately sabotaged her chances of becoming Trump’s vice president or was just trying to get ahead of a bad story.

The governor’s book, No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward, will be released May 7.

In it she writes about the dog she shot in the gravel pit on her family’s property, just before her children came home from school.

Noem claimed the dog had an “aggressive personality” that could not be tamed – as evidenced by Cricket ruining a pheasant hunt because he was “crazy with excitement, chasing all those birds and having the time of her life.” ‘

Among bettors, Senator Tim Scott is by far the favorite to become Trump’s vice president, while Noem has fallen out of favor with odds of just 4 percent.

Voters are historically sensitive when it comes to man’s best friend.

An environmental group released an ad attacking then-Vice President Sarah Palin for her support of aerial wolf hunting. One study found that this was the most effective ad during the 2008 presidential election.

Democrats have said they believe their most effective ad for the 2022 midterm elections was one featuring Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz was linked to experiments with dogs. Senator John Fetterman went on to win the race.

Noem served as the U.S. Representative for the at-large district of South Dakota from 2011 to 2019 before she was elected governor of the state.