- South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has been the subject of ridicule and scorn after admitting to killing a dog in her new tell-all book.
- Noem was regarded as one of the front-runners as Donald Trump’s running mate for the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election.
- Since her excerpt in the book was uncovered, Noem’s odds of being Trump’s VP pick have plummeted.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s odds of becoming Trump’s running mate are in tatters after she admitted to shooting and killing a dog. Leading online bookmaker BetOnline offers +2000 for Noem to become Trump’s Vice President nominee.
The odds were as short as +800 last week, when Noem had the third-shortest GOP VP odds. The 52-year-old’s implied probability tanked from 11.1% to 4.8%! Lee Zeldin (+1800), Nikki Haley (+2500), and Sarah Huckabee Sanders (+2500) are around the same mark.
Noem’s political strategy over the last year has largely been motivated by trying to garner Trump’s attention. She has spent much of her time gloating and clamoring over the former president, so we do know that she is most certainly interested in being his running mate.
Running South Dakota has presumably been secondary to Noem, while defending and impressing Trump whenever she can have seemingly taken the forefront of her schedule. As a result, Noem was not a fringe or unlikely VP candidate by any stretch.
Noem Kills Dog For Not Cooperating – Goat, Too
In Noem’s book, No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward, the governor states that she had to kill what she describes as an untrainable 14-month-old hunting dog.
“I hated that dog,” Noem wrote in the book, claiming that Cricket had become “untrainable”, “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with” and “worthless as a hunting dog”.
Noem also outlines an incident in which Cricket chased after and killed a neighbor’s chickens.
At that moment, I realized I had to put her down. It was not a pleasant job, but it had to be done. And after it was over, I realized another unpleasant job had to be done.
After leading Cricket to a gravel pit to be shot, Noem turned her attention to a goat she describes as being “disgusting, musky, rancid”. The goat was also blamed for chasing her children around and knocking them over — subsequently getting their clothes dirty.
The revelations from the book sent her name trending on social media immediately. Oddsmakers reacted just as swiftly, as Noem’s VP odds imploded at the same time.
Despite the myriad of criticism, Noem has since defended herself.
Given that Cricket had shown aggressive behavior toward people by biting them, I decided what I did. Whether running the ranch or in politics, I have never passed on my responsibilities to anyone else to handle. Even if it’s hard and painful. I followed the law and was being a responsible, parent, dog owner, and neighbor.
Trump Advisors Will Likely Prevent Noem VP Nomination
Does Trump care that Noem killed her dog? It’s unlikely that he crossed her off his list immediately. However, his campaign is undoubtedly watching the reaction to the book, especially among conservatives.
Both sides of the political aisle have voiced their concerns with Noem. It’s been an all-out attack on Noem, who may not be able to recover from this politically.
The Trump administration’s former director of strategic communications, Alyssa Farrah Griffith, was quick to share opinion on X.
Moreover, Meghan McCain admitted that her VP aspirations are now in dire straits.
You can recover from a lot of things in politics, change the narrative etc. —but not from killing a dog. All I will distinctly think about Kristi Noem now is that she murdered a puppy who was ‘acting up’, which is obviously cruel and insane. Good luck with that VP pick lady…
Trump has not commented, nor will he likely say anything unless he is asked about the topic. Nevertheless, his advisors will almost certainly ensure that Noem’s bad press is kept far away from Trump’s presidential campaign in 2024.
Currently, Noem has an implied probability of 4.8% to be Trump’s VP nominee, but it feels more like less than 1%.
