Kristi Noem: Killing Dangerous Dog Was a ‘Choice as a Mom’

Governor Kristi Noem (R-SD) said Monday on Fox News Channel’s  “Jesse Watters Primetime” that it was a “choice as a mom” to kill her dog Cricket.

Watters said, “What happens if you are debating Kamala Harris and she says, ‘Well, wait a second, you shot your dog and you wrote a book about it, bragging about it. How can you be vice president?'”

Noem said, “That story was a choice as a mom. The safety of my children versus a dangerous dog that was killing livestock and attacking people. So, this book that I’ve written is full of stories of my past, hard decisions. And I told the truth.”

Watters said, “Do you regret telling that story? Do you understand why people don’t like that story?”

Noem said, “Everybody’s known that story for years. 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. This dog was vicious, it was dangerous, it was killing livestock for the joy of it and attacking people. And I had a choice between keeping my family safe, I had little kids at the time, a very public business of inviting people to come out and enjoy our hunting lodge and our business, and I don’t pass my responsibilities off to anybody else.”

Watters said, “So, you’re standing by the dog story?”

Noem said, “I’ll tell you what, it’s the facts.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN