- Stephen Colbert teased Kristi Noem on Monday's Late Show
- He slams her for admitting to killing 14-month-old puppy Cricket
- Noem said in her book that crickets “ruined hunting.”
Stephen Colbert scolded South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem for violently assaulting and killing her puppy Cricket during Monday's episode of The Late Show.
Noem, a potential running mate for Republican President Donald Trump, writes in her upcoming memoir, “No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward,'' when she was 14 years old. He caused a stir when he revealed that he had killed the moon puppy.
During the show, Colbert teased Noem's “fascinating” confession about what she did to her late dog.
“No, no, bad mental governor, no, sit down, bad, stay there, stay away from the dog,” Colbert yelled as he sprayed water from a spray bottle.
“I know it sounds terrible, but it's worse,” he added, before saying, “Why did Cricket need to kick?”
Noem was on her way home from a hunting trip she took her puppy with her older dog when she stopped to talk to her family when Cricket, a wire-haired pointer, got out of the truck and grabbed some of the family's chickens. He wrote that he attacked and killed him. And he bit the governor.
Noem apologized profusely, wrote the distraught family a check for the dead chicken and helped dispose of the carcass, she wrote. She added that Cricket was “a picture of joy” as the incident unfolded.
“I hated that dog,” Noem wrote, and considers her “untrainable.”
In response, Colbert defended Cricket, saying he was too young to be trained.
Noem said in her book that Cricket “ruined the hunt” when he “lost his mind with excitement, chasing all the birds and having the time of his life.”
“But who among us has ever seen a dog running around the world, uncared for, and thought, 'You deserved to die?'” Colbert said. said.
“At that moment, I knew I had to let her go,” Noem recalled in the book.
Nomu then said he took Cricket to a gravel pit and shot him dead.
Colbert said the book is “less like a political memoir and more like the scrolling manifesto of a guy whose neighbors told him, “He's kind of closed off, isn't he?''
Noem said in her book that she also decided to kill the goat because her family had a “mean and spiteful” male goat that smelled bad and liked to chase children.
She wrote that the goat survived the first shot, so she returned to the truck, got another shell, and shot it again.
After Cricket took his life, Noem recalled her daughter asking, “Hey, where's Cricket?”
The excerpt, first published by the Guardian, quickly drew criticism on social media platforms, with many people posting photos of their pets. President Joe Biden's re-election campaign brought the topic to the surface on social media with a photo of Nomu and Trump.
The Lincoln Project, a conservative group opposed to President Trump, posted a video it called a “public service announcement,'' showing a misbehaving dog and explaining that “shooting a dog in the face is not an option.''
Rick Wilson of the Lincoln Project wrote about X, “The humane way to kill an old, injured, or sick dog is not to shoot him or throw him in a gravel pit.” Prove that cruelty matters. ”
Minnesota's Democratic governor, Tim Walz, also slammed Noem for the story, sharing a photo of her with her dog and writing, “Please post a photo where you don't shoot your dog or throw it in a gravel pit.” . start. ”
Meanwhile, Paws for Animal Rescue, a South Dakota pet adoption service, issued a statement saying that no dog is untrainable.
“PAWS Animal Rescue does not intend to take a position on this specific situation,” the group said on Facebook. However, we would like to make a statement regarding “untrainable dogs.”
Noem responded to the backlash on Sunday by saying, “I understand why some people would be upset about a story about cricket from 20 years ago.”
The Republican continued: “This book is filled with many honest stories about my life, the good days and the bad, the challenges, the tough decisions, and the lessons I learned.” What I've learned from my years in public service, especially leading South Dakota through the coronavirus pandemic, is that people want leaders who are authentic, willing to learn from the past, and willing to take on difficult challenges.
“I hope that people reading this book understand that I always strive to make the best decisions for the people in my life.”
“As a matter of fact, South Dakota law states that any dog that attacks and kills livestock can be euthanized. Given that Cricket has shown aggressive behavior by biting people, I decided to I've decided to take action. Whether it's ranching or politics, I've never shifted my responsibility to anyone else, even if it's painful.
“I followed the law and was a responsible parent, dog owner, and neighbor. As I explain 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 demonstrate her willingness to do anything “difficult and messy and ugly” if she had to.
She previously defended herself on the same topic on social media.
“We love animals, but difficult decisions like this happen all the time on farms,” she told X.
“Unfortunately, a few weeks ago we had to let go of three horses that had been in our family for 25 years.”
She urged readers to pre-order the book if they want “more realistic, honest and politically incorrect stories that the media is holding their breath on.”
Republican strategist Alice Stewart said that while some Republican voters might see the story as “a testament to her mettle,” it would ultimately serve as a distraction for Noem.
“It's never nice to be seen as abusing animals,” Stewart said. “I have a dog that I love like a child, and I can't imagine doing that, and I can't imagine writing about it in a book and sharing it with the world.