Kristi Noem killed her dog — and committed ‘political suicide’

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s horrific account of how she killed her dog may have also killed something else: her hopes of being Donald Trump’s running mate.

In Trump’s orbit, Noem’s decision to reveal in her memoir that she once shot and killed a family dog ​​is being seen as pure political self-immolation — part of a series of “lapses in judgment” and a sign of “desperation that President Trump especially doesn’t like it,” according to more than half a dozen GOP sources who spoke to The Daily Beast on condition of anonymity to detail confidential conversations.

“Everyone around Trump is talking about this,” said one MAGA operative.

“I’ve never seen a more public suicide than Jim Jones in Jonestown,” another Trumpworld source told The Daily Beast.

For years, Noem was seen as a rising star in Republican politics thanks to her combative and unabashedly MAGA image. She routinely appears in news reports as one of Trump’s top candidates for vice president in 2024.

At this point, though, even Republicans can agree that by deeply offending a bipartisan constituency — pet lovers — Noem is not only politically incorrect but also politically incompetent.

In a surprising reveal from her new memoir Don’t go backSet to be published next month, Noem details the shocking end of her 14-month-old Wire Pointer, Cricket.

Noem says she killed the dog, which lived on the family farm in South Dakota, because of its “aggressive personality” and lack of hunting skills. She also writes that Cricket escaped from her truck and attacked a group of chickens, “grab[ing] one chicken at a time, crushing it to death with one bite and then dropping it to attack another.” This was the last straw.

“I hated that dog,” Noem writes, adding that Cricket was simply “untrainable,” “useless as a hunting dog,” and “dangerous to anyone she came into contact with.” It was then, she says, that she realized “I had to put her down.”

But Noem did the dirty work herself, taking Cricket to a gravel pit and then shooting the dog.

This graphic and shocking excerpt was poorly received by many, including those in Trumpworld, and may have dashed any hopes she had of being Trump’s running mate.

The Trumpworld source added that Noem had “a very slim chance before” of being Trump’s running mate, but that it is “less than zero now.”

“A vice president is chosen to solve problems and add real value. A proven gaffe machine does none of these things,” a source close to the Trump campaign told The Daily Beast.

Not only that, but a MAGA operative said Noem’s chances at a Cabinet position could also be toast. His involvement with the Trump campaign may also be limited in the future.

The agents around Trump “are obsessed with the ads that would run if she were involved with President Trump’s campaign, regarding the dog,” Trump’s agent said. “I mean, this thing is devastating. There is nothing more popular in politics than dogs, and she killed one – and continues to talk about it… That is what is disconcerting and shows uncontrolled judgement.”

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Noem also did not respond to a request for comment.

In fact, amid all the backlash, Noem refused to apologize. She wrote in subsequent posts on X that she “understands” why people might be upset, but that “difficult decisions like this happen all the time on a farm.”

The governor also tried to distort the execution as an example of how she “does not shy away from difficult challenges.”

“Whether it’s running the ranch or politics, I’ve never passed my responsibilities onto someone else,” Noem said on X. “Even though it’s difficult and painful. I followed the law and was a responsible parent, dog owner and neighbor.”

The widespread and swift reaction to Noem’s bizarre and disheartening story in Trumpworld is an exception to the general rule that Trump’s most trusted allies are typically protected when a cycle of bad news comes at them from a self-inflicted wound.

Take for example Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and his Trumpian ability to survive serious scandals. Or see how people like Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) managed to avoid — at least in the friendly confines of Trumpworld — being forever tied to episodes they’d like to forget, from Boebert’s infamous adventures in “Beetlejuice” to Greene’s observations about “Jewish space lasers.”

However, Noem may be in a league of her own.

Matthew Bartlett, a Republican Party strategist and State Department public affairs director under Trump, said Noem may have created a new category for herself in the lexicon of political mistakes.

“For Kristi Noem, it’s hard to even call this an unforced error,” Bartlett said, “because she deliberately told this story from what she thought would be a position of strength.”

One Trump-aligned strategist called Noem’s decision “one of the worst PR deals I’ve ever seen.”

“In America we love beer, baseball and dogs. It’s bipartisan,” said the strategist. “To think that Donald Trump would think you were tough because you killed a dog? It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.”

The canine outburst also raised questions about who is advising Noem, or whether she listens to any sound political advice.

“They just don’t know how to deal with it,” another veteran GOP strategist said of Noem’s team. “Confirming it yourself, and doing it in a book – that was not a slip of the tongue – shows a series of bad judgments along the way.”

“What she put in the book is the most positive version she could have of this story,” added the strategist. “Think of it this way.”

Noem’s main champion in Trumpworld has long been Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former 2016 campaign manager. Several Republicans who spoke to The Daily Beast said Noem’s account of shooting the puppy could very well affect Lewandowski, who insisted in a radio interview Monday in New Hampshire that Noem was “still in the top three” candidates for Trump’s vice presidential pick.

Lewandowski did not respond to a request for comment.

What has made matters worse for Noem is that she has aggressively maneuvered to put herself in the vice presidential conversation — amplifying scrutiny over her mistakes not just from Trump’s top lieutenants but also from others who are seeking second place.

“She’s kind of put herself in the vice president or bust bucket,” the MAGA agent said, “and that’s a really bad place to be.”

Bartlett said Noem may have fallen into a trap in her “misguided attempt” to project “some kind of force into the Midwest.”

“Connecting with rural America to show strength and tough decisions could have been a real asset,” Bartlett said, “but shooting a puppy never is.”