The Governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem, suggested on Sunday that President Joe Biden’s dog, Commander, should face a similar outcome as her own 14-month-old dog, Cricket. In her forthcoming memoir, Ms. Noem disclosed that she had to shoot Cricket due to its aggressive behaviour.

On Sunday, the Republican vice-presidential hopeful appeared on CBS’ “Face The Nation” and asked Americans to “make a choice between your children or a dangerous animal”.

Talking about President Biden’s dog, Ms Noem said, “Well, number one, Joe Biden’s dog has attacked 24 Secret Service people. So how many people are enough people to be attacked and dangerously hurt before you make a decision on a dog? And –That’s the question that the President should be held accountable to.”

Last year in October, the Biden administration announced that the dog had been relocated off White House grounds after incidents of it attacking and biting U.S. Secret Service agents.

As per a CNN report, Kristi Noem outlined her day one priorities in her book “No Going Back,” stating that if she were president she would ensure that Commander “was nowhere on the grounds.”

The report quoted her as saying in the book, “What would I do if I was president on the first day in office in 2025? Thanks for asking. I happen to have a list. The first thing I’d do is make sure Joe Biden’s dog was nowhere on the grounds (‘Commander, say hello to Cricket for me’). But my dog, Foster, would sure be welcome. He comes with me to the capitol all the time and loves everyone.”

While defending her actions of killing her 14-month-old dog Cricket, Ms Noem in the same CBS interview said, “This was a dangerous animal that was killing livestock and attacking people. And- and I had little children at the time, our operation had many kids running around and people in interaction with the public. And I made a difficult choice. I think you’re a mother too. And you have little kiddos, would you make a choice between your children or a dangerous animal?”

She continued, “And I think I would ask everybody in the country to put themselves in that situation. Because that’s what I faced and I talk about it because what I’m tired of in this country is politicians who pretend to be something that they’re not. That they aren’t willing to have the hard conversations and look at the past and the tough decisions that they’ve made. I’m- what I talk about in the book extensively when people are able to get it on Tuesday is to see the whole story and the truth, not the spin that the media has put on this story. The media has put some or removed most of the facts and the reason this is in there is because I want people to know that I don’t ask anybody else to take on my responsibilities. I understood my responsibility. As a mom, I made a choice between protecting my children and protecting them from a dangerous animal that was killing livestock and attacking people. And that’s a decision that I made—“

Ms Noem further explained that her dog remained uncontrollable despite undergoing months of training.

She added, “This dog was well, this dog was a working dog. And it had come from a family that already had issues with this dog. And I had put months and months of training into this dog. This dog had gone to other trainers as well. So -so all of that is the facts of the story. All of that shows that when you put someone in a position where they have to make a decision, and they want to protect their family and protect children and other people from getting attacked by an animal that has attacked others and killed livestock, that’s the choice I made over 20 years ago. And that I didn’t ask somebody else to take that responsibility for me, that I had to make that decision myself.”

Kristi Noem, a contender to become Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate, has stirred controversy after she said that she killed a family dog and a goat.

Noem, who is also the governor of South Dakota, said in her upcoming memoir that she killed an “untrainable” dog called Cricket on her family farm.

She said that the 14-month-old dog behaved like a “trained assassin,” and was “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with.”

In her memoir, excerpts of which were first published by The Guardian on Friday, Noem also said that she “hated” the dog, which ruined a hunt and attacked chickens owned by a local family.

“I realized I had to put her down,” she wrote, adding that she got her gun and then led Cricket to a gravel pit.

Noem also said that her family owned a male goat that was “nasty and mean” because it had not been castrated.

The goat smelled “disgusting, musky, rancid” and “loved to chase” Noem’s children, knocking them down and ruining their clothes.

She wrote that she decided to kill the goat the same way she had just killed her dog. 

Reacting to the excerpts, Joe Biden’s Democratic Party called them “horrifying” and “disturbing” and tried to make a 2024 election argument about the shooting of the animals.

“If you want elected officials who don’t brag about brutally killing their pets as part of their self-promotional book tour, then listen to our owners – and vote Democrat,” the Democratic National Committee said in a statement, giving voice to the dogs.

PETA Slams Kristi Noem

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) decried Kristi Noem’s decision to kill the dog and said that she fails to understand the vital political concepts of education

Colleen O’Brien, senior director at PETA, said, “Most Americans love their dogs, and we suspect that they’ll consider Gov. Noem a psychotic loony for letting this rambunctious puppy loose on chickens and then punishing her by deciding to personally blow her brains out rather than attempting to train her or find a more responsible guardian who could provide her with a proper home.”

“Noem obviously fails to understand the vital political concepts of education, cooperation, compromise, and compassion,” she said in an official statement.

Kristi Noem Defends Herself

Kristi Noem, however, defended herself against the attacks over her account of shooting her dog.

Taking to her official X account, she said, “We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm. Sadly, we just had to put down 3 horses a few weeks ago that had been in our family for 25 years.”

We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm. Sadly, we just had to put down 3 horses a few weeks ago that had been in our family for 25 years.

If you want more real, honest, and politically INcorrect stories that’ll have the media gasping,… pic.twitter.com/bKhpUkchHV

— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) April 26, 2024

Her book – No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward – will be published in the US on May 7.

According to reports, she is on a list of candidates being considered by Donald Trump to be his vice presidential running mate.

Trump faces a general election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden on November 5.