South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) didn’t appear cool with CNN’s Dana Bash asking about her dog killing story on Sunday after the host brought up the anecdote from her book she released earlier this year.
“Now that you’ve had time to process all of that, in all candor, do you have regrets?” asked “State of the Union” host of the “pretty intense criticism” the governor faced after writing about shooting and killing a 14-month-old wirehaired pointer named Cricket in her book “No Going Back.”
“You know, that story’s a 20 year old story of a mom who made a very difficult decision to protect her children from a vicious animal that was attacking livestock and killing livestock and attacking people,” said Noem, who described Cricket as “untrainable” and “aggressive” in the book.
Noem, who has doubled down on defending the killing in the wake of the backlash, said the anecdote was in the book because it was “difficult” for her.
“So what I’m hearing is no regrets, not just about writing about it but—,” Bash said.
“We’ve covered this,” Noem interjected.
“About actually shooting the dog,” Bash continued.
“We’ve covered and I’m a mom and protected my children from a vicious animal,” replied Noem, who noted that a 9-year old boy in South Dakota was killed “from a dog” (the boy was reportedly killed by a pack of feral dogs, not a single canine).
She continued, “You know, that happens. And that 9-year-old boy will never be in his parents’ lives again. He’ll never be in his family’s lives again. I think, people are put in tough situations in life and we learn from it.”
Bash, elsewhere in the interview, pointed to former President Donald Trump reportedly sending vetting materials to a list of potential running mates.
Noem, who the former president once named as a potential vice presidential pick prior to the dog killing controversy, was not on the list.
The governor, when asked if she has any indication that she’s still under VP consideration, said she’s told Trump that he needs to pick “whoever helps him win.”
Bash later noted that there were six men and one woman on the Trump VP shortlist before asking if a woman should be on the ticket.
“All the polls tell him in the swing states that a woman on the ticket helps him win,” argued Noem, who called the woman vote “extremely important.”