EARLY IN THE 2016 CAMPAIGN, NOEM SAID SHE WAS “NOT A FAN OF DONALD TRUMP”
August 2015: Noem Said She Was “Not A Fan Of Donald Trump” According to the Daily Republic, “In 2012, Noem did not officially endorse any of the Republican candidates for president. She will continue that approach for 2016. Among the crowded field, Noem does have her eye on a few candidates she shares principles and values with, but declined to make an endorsement. She said she's been keeping a close eye on Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Noem did share one candidate she will not support. ‘I'm not a fan of Donald Trump,’ Noem said.” [Daily Republic, 8/21/15]
2015: Noem Lamented That Trump Was “Preventing Good Candidates From Being Heard” In The Presidential Primary. According to the Daily Republic, “‘He's sucking a lot of air our of the room that I think is preventing good candidates from being heard, and that does have me concerned.’ Noem said she's looking for a candidate who can keep the country safe and will reduce the nation's debt. She's not convinced Trump fits the job description.” [Daily Republic, 8/21/15]
Noem: “I Would Not Want Donald Trump In A Room Negotiating” With Iran. According to the Daily Republic, “‘I look at all of these candidates as--what do presidents have to do for a country?’ Noem said. ‘One of them is to go into a room and negotiate with Iran, and I would not want Donald Trump in a room negotiating keeping the peace.’” [Daily Republic, 8/21/15]
Noem Initially Endorsed Rubio In The 2016 Republican Primary
November 2015: Noem Endorsed Rubio For President, Calling Him A “Next-Generation Conservative Leader.” According to POLITICO, “South Dakota Rep. Kristi Noem and Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo are supporting Marco Rubio’s presidential bid — the latest in a string of congressional endorsements of the Florida senator. ‘Marco Rubio represents the kind of next-generation conservative leader that puts our party in the best position to win back the White House next year,’ Noem said in a statement emailed to POLITICO.” [POLITICO, 11/6/15]
Noem Said Trump and Cruz Were “Not The Right People For The Job” At A Rubio Watch Party. According to the Washington examiner, “Rep. Kristi Noem, a South Dakota Republican and Rubio supporter, told reporters after the debate that Cruz is nothing more than a political opportunist who supports ‘whatever's popular that day,’ continuing Rubio's line of attack that the Texas senator engages in ‘political calculation’ and not ‘consistent conservatism.’ ‘From what I heard come from Donald Trump, from what I've seen of actions coming from Ted Cruz, they're not the right people for the job,’ Noem told reporters after a Rubio watch party.” [Washington Examiner, 1/15/16]
Noem Said She Was Not Sure If She Could Back Trump, Who Was Then The Frontrunner, Ahead Of The South Dakota Republican Primary
April 2016: Noem Said She Was Not Sure If She Would Back Trump As He Emerged As Frontrunner. According to the Argus Leader, “South Dakota's lone U.S. representative said she isn't sure she can back Republican front-runner Donald Trump. ‘I haven't decided if I would or not,’ Rep. Kristi Noem told reporters Thursday.” [Argus Leader, 4/1/16]
Noem Was Contacted About Serving In the Trump Administration As The Secretary Of Agriculture, But Chose To Stay In The House Of Representatives. According to the Rapid City Journal, “U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., was contacted about potentially serving in the Trump administration but has chosen instead to stay in the House of Representatives, according to her spokeswoman. New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters tweeted Monday that Noem was being considered for U.S. secretary of agriculture by President-elect Donald Trump. ‘Trump is vetting Kristi Noem, South Dakota's lone member of Congress, for Agriculture secretary,’ Peters tweeted. ‘She'll be visiting Trump Tower this week.’ The Journal asked Noem's office about the report, and spokeswoman Brittany Comins said the tweet was inaccurate. Comins said Noem was contacted about an administration post, but Noem is not headed to New York for a meeting with Trump and is committed to serving in the House.” [Rapid City Journal, 12/12/16]
Noem Was It Was “An Honor To Be Considered By President-Elect Trump To Join His Administration.” According to the Rapid City Journal, “Comins additionally provided a written statement from Noem. The statement said, in part, that while it is ‘an honor to be considered by President-elect Trump to join his administration,’ Noem is ‘convinced the best way for me to help President Trump succeed while also producing the greatest impact for South Dakota is to serve out my two-year term in the House of Representatives.’” [Rapid City Journal, 12/12/16]
Noem Said She Did Not Believe Trump Offered “The Best Chance” For The Republican Party In 2024. According to the New York Times, “Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, a Republican often mentioned as a potential 2024 candidate, said she did not believe Mr. Trump offered ‘the best chance’ for the party in 2024.” [New York Times, 11/16/22]
Noem Said Trump’s Nomination Would Narrow GOP’s Focus And Prevent The Party From Reaching Every Single American. According to the New York Times, “‘If we narrow our focus there, then we’re not talking to every single American,’ Ms. Noem said in an interview as she sat across a mahogany table from her political adviser, Corey Lewandowski, who served as campaign manager for an early portion of Mr. Trump’s 2016 bid. ‘Our job is not just to talk to people who love Trump or hate Trump. Our job is to talk to every single American.’” [New York Times, 11/16/22]
Noem Said Comments To New York Times About Trump Were Taken Out Of Context And That “The New York Times Are Liars.” According to Breitbart, “‘If we narrow our focus there, then we’re not talking to every single American. Our job is not just to talk to people who love Trump or hate Trump. Our job is to talk to every single American,’ Noem told the outlet. Noem’s communications team later told Breitbart News that her comments were ‘taken out of context.’ The governor further explained her position during an appearance on Steve Bannon’s War Room show. ‘The New York Times are liars,’ she said. ‘What they printed is not what I said.’ Noem clarified that she actually called for Republicans to take greater responsibility with messaging and not put all of that onto the former president’s shoulders. ‘What I said is that every single one of us, as Republicans, needs to be messengers,’ she said. ‘It’s all of our jobs. President Trump is the only one running for president, who’s the only one who has been president. He’s obviously the leader of our party right now and he has a responsibility, but we all do too.’ ‘I think that’s what we need to recognize,’ she added. ‘That we should not put all the weight of messaging what is great about America on one person. That it’s every one of our jobs and we should get up every day with that responsibility on our shoulders.’” [Breitbart, 11/18/22]
Noem Walked Back Her Remarks Criticizing Trump On “War Room” Podcast And Issued Mild Criticism Of DeSantis For Florida COVID Lockdown. According to NBC News, “South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, long viewed as having eyes on the presidency, made critical remarks of Trump on Wednesday in The New York Times. But in a ‘War Room’ podcast interview on Thursday with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, she walked back the remarks and issued a mild criticism of DeSantis for briefly locking down Florida during spring break when the Covid pandemic first hit in 2020.” [NBC News, 11/19/22]
VIDEO: Noem Criticized Trump For Giving “Credibility” To Fauci During COVID. According to the Hugh Hewitt Show via YouTube, “NOEM: In fact, it wasn’t very long into the pandemic before I realized they were giving us information that wasn’t accurate. According to the research that I was doing, talking to researchers all around the world. I spent a lot of time working with different experts who had studied viruses, how they spread, and a lot of that background and information just was not matching up with the recommendations that were coming out of Fauci. And as soon as, you know, you know, Mike Pence and President Trump had Fauci and Dr. Birx up in front of the American people, I was, I was questioning it a little bit to myself and to people around me just because they never were conservatives. They never were unbiased. And I watched them for years run around Washington, D.C. with Nancy Pelosi and liberal people. So I wondered why we were giving credibility to people that whose history was not to be a part of a team and really do what was best for the American people.” [Hugh Hewitt Show via YouTube, 6/29/22]
VIDEO: Noem Encouraged The Trump Administration To End The Trade War In Order To Help Farmers And The Agriculture Industry. According to the South Dakota Gubernatorial Debate via YouTube, “NOEM: Right now, agriculture is struggling. We are in the middle of a trade war. I've encouraged this administration over and over again to wrap that up as quickly as possible. We had four years of decreased prices to begin with, and then this trade war hit, and it's been pretty devastating for our farmers. I'm grateful that USDA has listened and given us some opportunities for payments to help us through this situation. But we need more markets and the ability to do that.” [South Dakota Gubernatorial Debate via YouTube, 10/25/18]
NOEM AVOIDED ANSWERING QUESTIONS ABOUT TRUMP’S PROPOSED TARIFFS IN TESTIMONY TO THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Noem Testified Before The House Committee On Agriculture About China And American Agriculture. According to the Dakota Scout, “Gov. Kristi Noem’s championing of a bill that bans hostile foreign governments from making agricultural land purchases in South Dakota has the attention of Washington, D.C. policymakers. Noem appeared before the Republican-led House Committee on Agriculture to contribute to a panel titled ‘The danger China poses to American agriculture.’ The governor is no stranger to the U.S. House, having served four terms there before moving on to be governor.” [Dakota Scout, 3/20/24]
Noem Avoided Answering Questions About Trump’s Proposed Chinese Tariffs And The Potential Consequences For American Farmers
Noem Avoided Answering Questions About Trump’s Proposed Chinese Tariffs And The Potential Consequences For American Farmers. According to POLITICO, “Trump veepstakes candidate and South Dakota GOP Gov. Kristi Noem on Wednesday ducked a question during a congressional hearing when pressed about the former president’s talk of slapping steep new tariffs on all Chinese goods — a move that could trigger immense financial fallout for farmers in her state. ‘I think that that is a proposal that people are still looking at and having conversations about,’ Noem replied at a House Agriculture Committee hearing on the threat of China to American agriculture. Trump and his allies have floated new tariffs as high as 60 percent on all Chinese goods, which they argue will bring manufacturing back to the U.S. However, American farmers and agribusinesses are still reeling from Trump’s first trade war that hit hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods with tariffs. Beijing’s retaliation effectively cut off U.S. producers from their largest export market.” [POLITICO, 3/20/24]
VIDEO: Noem Said The Trump Administration Did Not Respond To Her Complaints About Their “Failure” To Support Tribal Communities. According to KELOLAND via YouTube, “NOEM: I think we have incredible opportunities to work together with our tribes in a new way. We've had very honest conversations since I've been governor and even just recently. So we've got three of our tribes that have declared emergencies because of drugs and crime, and starting new conversations with them on ways we can partner is incredibly important right now. This is a failure of the federal government. It really is. They have a treaty obligation to take care of our tribal communities. They're not doing that. I complained to the Trump administration when I was governor and asked them to come and help make sure that there was law and order on our reservations and did not get a response.” [KELOLAND via YouTube, 2/15/24]
VIDEO: Noem: “I Think The Last Two Administrations Have Failed Our Tribes.” According to KELOLAND via YouTube, “NOEM: I'm not pointing fingers at one White House or another. I think the last two administrations have failed our tribes. They have. The Trump administration didn't help when I asked for help during the COVID epidemic to bring law and order to many of our tribal areas. We had drugs and crime going on then as well.” [KELOLAND via YouTube, 2/15/24]