Kristi Noem returns to screens still defending shooting 'vicious' dog

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem returned to cable news on Sunday after a month-long hiatus from her book tour that was cut short after a story about her shooting her fourteen-month-old dog 'Cricket' blew up in the media. CNN host Dana Bash hosted Noem on her show and again questioned her about the incident and her decision to share the story to shoot and kill her dog in her book 'No Going Back'

'Now that you've had time to process all of that, in all candor, do you have regrets?' Bash asked Noem. '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,' Noem said.

She said that story was included in the book because it was a 'difficult' incident in her life and encouraged people to read it. 'It's a how-to guide for the average citizen on how to get their government back,' she said.

Bash again asked Noem of she had any regrets for shooting her dog and putting the story in her book, that even drew criticism from Republicans. 'We've covered this,' Noem said. 'And I'm a mom and protected my children from a vicious animal.' Noem pointed out that a 9-year-old boy was recently killed in South Dakota by a dog. 'That 9-year-old boy will never be in his parents' lives again. He'll never be in his family's lives again,' she said. 'People are put in tough situations in life, and we learn from it.'

It appears that Noem was referring to reports of nine-year-old boy who was killed by a pack of feral dogs on the Cheyenne River Reservation in May. Noem was widely considered to be on the top a list of potential running mates for former President Donald Trump, until her book was released, kicking off a flurry of criticism from dog owners across the globe. 

The Republican governor tried to soldier on with her book tour, but the story about her shooting her dog consumed all of the news coverage and media interviews surrounding her book.

Noem ultimately paused her book tour in early May, returning to South Dakota in reaction citing bad weather in the state that demanded her attention. Afterward Trump said in an interview that Noem had a bad week, but that he was still a fan of the South Dakota Governor who had been 'a supporter of mind from day one.'

Trump said in an interview that 'people from different parts of the country probably feel a little bit differently' about the story of her shooting her dog but conceded it was a difficult controversy. 'She had a bad week,' Trump said. 'We all have bad weeks.' But if Noem was ever a serious running mate contender, it appears she did not make the short list.

Earlier this week, Trump narrowed his running mate search to just seven candidates, according to reports. The list included North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida's Marco Rubio, Ohio Sen. JD Vance and South Carolina's Tim Scott, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson.

Noem said that she did not care if she was picked as Trump's running mate, but said choosing a woman would be an asset to his campaign 'I think that that would be beneficial,' she said. 'According to the polling that I've seen for him, in a lot of swing states, is that having a woman that is helping him campaign makes a difference.'

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