As you’ve probably heard by now, South Dakota governor Kristi Noem wrote a book that includes a vivid account of killing a 14-month-old dog named Cricket, which she has spent the last week insisting is not as bad as it sounds. And now she has two more anecdotes to defend, but for an entirely different reason: because they appear to be false.
Politico reports that in Noem’s book, No Going Back, she claims that when she was serving as a low-ranking congresswoman, she met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, writing, “Through my tenure on the House Armed Services Committee, I had the chance to travel to many countries to meet with world leaders. I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all).” In fact, Politico reports that Noem never actually met with Un, and you don’t just have to take the “fake news” media’s word for it. A spokesman for Noem basically admitted as much, telling Politico, “We’ve been made aware that the publisher will be addressing conflated world leaders’ names in the book before it is released.”
And that’s not the only story being called into question. Noem also claims that in 2021, former ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley called to offer mentorship, and then threatened her. According to Politico, Noem recounts telling an aide, “I’m pretty sure I was just threatened by Nikki Haley. It was clear that she wanted me to know that there was only room for one Republican woman in the spotlight.” Noem writes that “the message was clear. I’m the alpha female here, and you should know your place.”
Except, according to a spokesperson for Haley, the then ambassador implied no such thing. “Nikki has long called and written notes supporting other women when they go through challenging times,” Chaney Denton told Politico, also noting that Noem got the year of their phone call wrong. “She called Governor Noem in 2020 to encourage her when she was criticized for keeping her state open during COVID. How she would twist that into a threat is just plain weird.” Noem’s spokesman, Ian Fury, clarified to The Hill that the call took place in 2020 and the two met in 2021. He added, “It was brought to our attention that the upcoming book No Going Back has two small errors…. The book has not been released yet, and all future editions will be corrected.”