George Santos isn’t the only Republican who embellishes his resume.
Politicians writing books (actually, having one ghostwritten) is a common practice. The books can make a lot of money, but mainly they serve as campaign posters, drawing attention to a politician seeking a promotion. Typically, they’re self-promotion.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s book wasn’t anything special — until it blew up her political career. Confessing to shooting her dog would have been enough, but it seems she’s a liar, too.
First, Noem was slammed for bragging that she met North Korea’s dictator when it wasn’t true. If you ask me, the only possible reason to do that is to look important and claim to have some experience in global affairs, but she also may have done it to impress Trump’s base, because he claims Kim is a pal of his. (I can see why Kim Jung Un would play along, because Trump is easy to take advantage of.)
Now, she’s been caught in another exaggerated or outright false brag. This one involves the French president. Noem claimed in her book that she canceled a scheduled meeting with Macron because of “what I considered a very pro-Hamas and anti-Israel comment to the press.”
But the Élysée says she was never on their schedule (see story here). Moreover, Wikipedia says (here), “In October 2023, Macron condemned Hamas’ actions during the Israel–Hamas war and expressed his support to Israel and its right to self-defense,” so she’s also misrepresenting his position on that issue.
As a point of clarification, Noem’s claim refers to a Paris trip she made last November, after the Oct. 17 attacks, and her book was published on May 7, 2024, nearly eight months after the attacks, so she could’ve gotten this right. Her motive apparently was to burnish her pro-Israel credentials. She did so by smearing a world leader and U.S. ally she would have to deal with if she became vice president or president. Not a good look.
It probably doesn’t matter at this point because Trump has said she’s not on his veep search list, and the dog incident likely destroyed any future political prospects she had. She never should have put out that damn book. It was a colossal blunder. People expect politicians to be dishonest, but even a Republican can’t get away with murdering a dog. Probably not even Trump.
People are another story; Trump probably was right when he said his supporters would still vote for him if he shot someone, and they don’t mind his lies and swindling one bit. And Noem probably would’ve gotten away with her fibs if she hadn’t used the dog for target practice instead of taking it to an adoption shelter.
Photo below: Noem’s cap ought to read, “Make Dogs Dead Again”
