Kristi Noem doubles down on dog-killing to win over MAGA — here's why her story is backfiring

South Dakota’s governor gets the sadism of Trump supporters, but screws up by saying the quiet parts out loud

Squint hard enough and perhaps one can see how Gov. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., thought it was a winning political move to brag about murdering a puppy. It’s the same trolling strategy used by MAGA Republicans like Donald Trump, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas: Say something extremely evil, stupid, or both. Draw the inevitable liberal outrage or mockery. Play the victim, claiming that it’s more proof the “elites” hate the common sense working folk of MAGA. Then sit back and watch the dollars and followers roll in.

For Noem, however, her tale of shooting her dog Cricket is not working out quite as planned. Sure, she got the predictable outrage and disgust from Democrats. But she also seems to have alienated the very Trump supporters she was trying to impress with her bloodthirsty tale. Fox News let their displeasure be known by doing a round-up story of conservative social media influencers denouncing Noem, often with quite harsh language. “Did she just intentionally end her career?” asked trollish podcaster Tim Poole. Other high-profile right-wingers blasted Noem as an “Absolute Psycho” and called for her to be “criminally charged for animal abuse.” Even the notorious right-wing troll Catturd — who has 2.4 million Twitter followers because he acts as vile as his name suggests — drew a line at killing your child’s beloved pet.

Noem, however, still seems to think she can win over Republican voters by doubling and tripling down on her tale of executing a 14-month-old Wirehaired Pointer because it got confused and killed some chickens, instead of the pheasants she was training it to hunt. On Friday, she bragged about “the media gasping” at her “politically INcorrect” dog murder while hawking her new book. By Sunday she seemed to grasp that even Republicans were grossed out. She released a longer statement, trying to recast her choice as “hard and painful,” claiming, “I have never passed on my responsibilities to anyone else to handle.”

somas,
@somas@kbin.social avatar

@MicroWave

I’ve visited South Dakota many times and everyone here is being really judgy.

We can’t judge South Dakotans by the standards of more civilized society. They don’t know any better over there.

stoly,

I lived for a short period of time in South Dakota and was instantly shocked by just how closed minded people there were. They really existed in a separate world from everyone else.

JaymesRS,

I have family in SD and ND and live in southern MN. That’s just the current rural mentality in the Midwest unfortunately. And SD and ND are 99% rural.

stoly,

But it was like…there are no fireflies where I come from but I’m obviously a complete and utterly worthless person for asking someone what that light was. Like needlessly caustic.

CharlesDarwin,
@CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world avatar

What a monster.

numbermess,

I suppose we’ll be seeing the people who will inevitably excuse and then endorse her behavior start impaling their puppies on spikes in the front yard just so they can also be “telling it like it is.”

I predict that Rosanne Barr will appear on television with her face smeared in fresh dog blood and wearing a necklace of tiny skulls before the end of this year, sneering into the camera “oh are you TRIGGERED lmao???”

nutsack,

what a ridiculous person

billiam0202,

Sounds like she watched House of Cards but wasn’t smart enough to know why Frank Underwood is the bad guy.

Nougat,

You’re looking at Frank Underwood the wrong way. He was the successful guy.

billiam0202,

For a little while, sure.

Nougat,

It's a TV show, the bad guy has to lose, or at least be well on the way to losing.

When it's not a TV show, the bad guy often just wins, even if everybody knows about all the criming.

hrimfaxi_work,
@hrimfaxi_work@midwest.social avatar

I’m pleased that she’s experiencing the fallout from all this, but whatever logic she used to calculate that political risk is baffling.

Four John Wick movies have grossed over a billion dollars on the conceit that harming a dog is a legitimate emotional catalyst for someone to kill 450 people.

somas,
@somas@kbin.social avatar

@hrimfaxi_work

For all we know people in GOP-world think Wick is the villain in the series

nova_ad_vitum, (edited )

The initial story in her book was made largely without political calculus. The current political calculus of doubling down is simply that apologies are for pussies and pussies are liberals and I ain’t no fucking liberal. That’s it.

mosiacmango,

Apparently the story was known locally in south dakota political circles, so there is conjecture this is her trying to get out ahead of it if she was nominated.

Rapidcreek,

Puppy Breaks Into Kristi Noem’s Official Residence and Craps on Rug APR 29

PIERRE, SOUTH DAKOTA (The Borowitz Report)—In an incident under investigation by state police, a puppy of indeterminate breed obtained access to Gov. Kristi Noem’s official residence Sunday night and excreted on the entryway carpet. A police spokesman said that the act of canine vandalism is believed to be “political in nature.” At a hastily called press conference, a visibly rattled Noem called the puppy’s actions “a result of Joe Biden’s failed policies at the border.” Bad puppies are swarming into our country, breaking into our homes, and committing unspeakable crimes,” she said. But, in a worrisome development for Noem, a new poll shows South Dakota’s voters favoring the puppy over her by a two-to-one margin.

SteefLem,
@SteefLem@lemmy.world avatar

Wait a minute… she shoot her puppy because of bidens failed border policy thats her excuse??? Fucking hell that cunt is…well a cunt

SkyezOpen,

Uhh… It’s a joke article.

Cosmos7349,

Wait… ARE YOU SAYING SHE SHOT HER PUPPY BECAUSE OF FAILED BORDER POLICY???

SkyezOpen,

I’m saying it’s all left wing lies and biden personally shot her puppy.

Cosmos7349,

Oshit that’s crazy thanks for the info

kava,

Americans love dogs. Even the brainwashed MAGA loonies. I can’t believe she is a successful politician and thought this would be an OK thing to include in a book.

Usually psychos who make it into power understand the public sentiment enough to hide certain things like this.

Maybe it was a calculated risk- an attempt at courting controversy like Trump does and just dramatically backfired.

MagicShel,

The story that is emerging is that she killed the puppy in a fit of rage and this would inevitably come out because there were witnesses, so this is damage control and an attempt to reframe her rage as a difficult but necessary decision.

kava,

That makes sense. I did figure the story she’s telling is probably not the whole truth. When we tell a story about ourselves, we tend to consciously or subconsciously manipulate it so that it looks better.

So this story already makes her look really bad. The truth is probably even worse. Like you mentioned.

Neato,
@Neato@ttrpg.network avatar

Usually editors tell authors they are about to fuck up this badly. Or a publisher won’t let it get published with outright horror in it. Like what publisher wants to be associated with printing the autobiography for Puppy-Killer Governor?

CharlesDarwin,
@CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world avatar

Was it Regnery Publishing?

jballs,
@jballs@sh.itjust.works avatar

Americans love dogs. Even the brainwashed MAGA loonies.

I am looking forward to seeing how this plays out. Trump is probably smart enough to stay away from her now. But if not, it would make MAGAts choose between their cult worship of Trump and literally killing puppies. I’m sure they’d find a way to justify it.

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