South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who recently made headlines for recounting in her new book how she shot her dog, is scheduled to speak Saturday at the California Republican Party convention in Burlingame.
Democrats criticized the state Republican Party over Noem's planned appearance.
“She may come to California, but I can guarantee you she won't come near my puppy Charlie,” said Rusty Hicks, chairman of the California Democratic Party. “You don't need a public poll to know that a bad record on puppies or the truth won't attract more people to your party. But let's be honest, the California Republican Party has been barking up the wrong tree for a very long time.”
A spokesperson for the state Republican Party defended Noem's luncheon speech.
“Governor. Noem is a proven leader in South Dakota and she will provide a welcome contrast to what Californians experience under the governor. [Gavin] Newsom’s failed leadership has put our state at the top of all the wrong lists,” said Ellie Hockenbury. “We look forward to having him join us at our 2024 convention, which will be the largest gathering of California Republicans in a critical election year.”
Lunch tickets cost between $300 and $575; The maximum price includes a photo reception with Noem. Republican state officials said it was too early to say how many people will attend the luncheon or the convention, which runs Friday through Sunday. Lara Trump, co-chair of the Republican National Committee and daughter-in-law of Donald Trump, is scheduled to speak Saturday night.
Noem has been criticized for her book “No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward,” published last week.
The controversy centers on Cricket, a 14-month-old wirehaired pointer. Noem describes taking Cricket pheasant hunting with older dogs to train her, details of which were first reported by The Guardian.
But the dog was “untamable,” Noem wrote, and ended up eating a farming family’s chickens. He then took Cricket to a gravel pit and shot him.
“I hated that dog,” Noem wrote, describing her as “dangerous” and “less than useless… as a hunting dog,” according to The Guardian.
He also describes killing a goat that same day.
Noem's book also suggests that she met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and was scheduled to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, accounts that the Dakota Scout newspaper reported as false.
Amid the uproar that followed her story of shooting her dog, Noem published in X: “Don't believe the twisted spin of the #fakenews media. I had to choose between the safety of my children and an animal that had a history of attacking people and killing livestock. “I chose my children.”
The governor had been on the short list to be former President Trump's running mate, but had become angry with her before the book controversies, according to CNN.
But Trump has defended Noem, including in a radio interview that aired Tuesday.
“She is a great person. She had a bad week,” she said. “We all have bad weeks.”
“A couple of difficult stories, there's no doubt about that,” the former president said. “Until this week, he was doing incredibly well. And she was hit hard, and sometimes you make books, and you have a guy writing a book, and maybe you don't read it as carefully, you know? You have ghostwriters who do it, they help you, and in this case, they didn't help you very much.”
President Biden's re-election campaign seized on the comments. (Noem recently suggested that one of Biden's German shepherds should have suffered the same fate as Cricket after biting numerous people at the White House. The dog was rehomed.)
“On the Biden campaign, we are proud to oppose the murder of puppies and we do not believe that those who murder puppies are 'fantastic,'” said campaign spokesman James Singer.
