(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Noem’s former opponents reject her claim that dog-killing story was widely known and used • Daily Montanan [1] ['Joshua Haiar', 'Jennifer Shutt', 'Keila Szpaller', 'Blair Miller', 'More From Author', '- May'] Date: 2024-05-08 During a series of contentious recent interviews, Gov. Kristi Noem repeatedly said a story in her new book about fatally shooting a dog was already widely known in South Dakota because her political opponents had used it against her. Yet when South Dakota Searchlight contacted Noem’s former opponents, most of those who answered the phone or returned a message said they’d never heard the story before Noem put it in her own book. Others said they had previously heard rumors about the story but never used it in a campaign or ever saw anyone else use it. The last person to run a competitive race against Noem was Billie Sutton, the Democratic nominee for governor in 2018 who lost by three percentage points. When told of Noem’s comments, Sutton said “that’s just not true,” adding that he’d never heard the dog story before she included it in her book. Noem has been on a book tour since last weekend, giving interviews to the national media and encountering difficult questions even from Republican-leaning outlets. She’s been a subject of national ridicule and scorn for revealing in the book that she fatally shot a dog and a goat, and for apparently fabricating a claim that she met North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. The book is titled “No Going Back.” As interviewers have asked about the dog story, Noem has often said she included it to set the record straight after the story was used against her in her home state. “Everybody’s known that story for years,” Noem told Fox News. “That’s what most people don’t realize — that in South Dakota, they’ve used that story to attack me and my political campaigns for years. I wanted people to know the truth.” The governor made similar comments to Newsmax. “I think that in South Dakota, in the last couple of elections that I’ve had, my political opponents have tried to use this story, and tried to use it against me,” she said. “I wanted people to know the truth, and that’s why it’s in the book.” Jamie Smith, a Democrat, lost to Noem in the 2022 general election. He had heard rumors about Noem shooting a dog, he said, “but our campaign chose to stay focused on the issues.” “It doesn’t surprise me that she’s not telling the truth and that she thought it was a good idea to tell others about her cruelty,” he said. “This is the Kristi Noem we have known in South Dakota for a long time.” The Libertarian candidate in the 2022 race for governor, Tracey Quint, said of the dog story, “No, I had not heard it before the book.” Noem’s most recent Republican primary opponent, Steven Haugaard, who lost to her in 2022, said the same thing. “I don’t know what she’s talking about,” Haugaard said. “It’s certainly not well thought-out.” Marty Jackley, the current South Dakota attorney general, lost to Noem in the 2018 Republican gubernatorial primary. When asked if he had ever previously heard the dog story, he answered with one word: “No.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2024/05/08/noems-former-opponents-reject-her-claim-that-dog-killing-story-was-widely-known-and-used/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/