A woman thought to be a potential running mate for former President Donald Trump at the November election has admitted to killing a dog she thought was ‘worthless’.
Conservative South Dakota governor Kristi Noem made the claims in her new book, No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.
She wrote how she ‘hated’ Cricket, the dog she killed, further describing it as ‘untrainable’, ‘dangerous’ and ‘less than worthless as a hunting dog.’
Noem then details how she took the animal to a gravel pit on her farm and shot it dead.
On the same day, she claims to have also killed an unruly goat, botching her first attempt before finishing the animal off with a shotgun.
In recent weeks Noem has sought to model herself as a suitable candidate for embattled former President Trump, who enjoys her unconditional support.
Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former White House staffer during Trump’s presidency who has since turned his critic, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: ‘I’m a dog lover and I am honestly terrified by the Kristi Noem excerpt. I wish I hadn’t even read it.
‘A 14-month-old dog is still a puppy and can be trained. A large part of bad behaviour in dogs is not having proper training from the humans responsible for them.
‘Dogs are a gift from God. They’re a reflection of his unconditional love. Anyone who would needlessly hurt an animal because they are inconvenient needs help.’
Sarah Matthews, who also previously acted as one of Trump’s aides before becoming critical of him, said: ‘When I saw the tweets about Kristi Noem murdering her puppy, I thought to myself, “Damn, one of the other VP contenders’ teams found some oppo,” until I realized SHE wrote about it in HER book.
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‘I’m not sure why anyone would brag about this unless they’re sick and twisted.’
Noem was quick to reply to the criticism, posting from her own X account: ‘We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm. Sadly, we just had to put down three horses a few weeks ago that had been in our family for 25 years.’
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