Kristi Noem flew back to Florida this week not only to babble campaign advice that she herself doesn’t follow but also to hang out with her good chum and groomer Corey Lewandowski:
“If we narrow our focus there, then we’re not talking to every single American,” Ms. Noem said in an interview as she sat across a mahogany table from her political adviser, Corey Lewandowski, who served as campaign manager for an early portion of Mr. Trump’s 2016 bid [Reid J. Epstein, Lisa Lerer, and Jonathan Weisman, “Key Allies Inching Away from Trump,” New York Times, 2022.11.16].
And perhaps miffed that Donald Trump only sent her a cheap 85-second video for her last big pre-election campaign rally after appearing in person for Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds in Sioux City just a few days earlier, Noem also went to Florida to dump on Trump’s Clevelandian Presidential re-aspirations:
Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, a Republican often mentioned as a potential 2024 candidate, said she did not believe Mr. Trump offered “the best chance” for the party in 2024.
…“Our job is not just to talk to people who love Trump or hate Trump. Our job is to talk to every single American” [Epstein, Lerer, and Weisman, 2022.11.16].
Annie Todd of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader notes that Noem’s Wednesday statement marks “a 180-turn” from the position she took on another Trump run last summer, in which she said she’d back Trump despite his warts:
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem isn’t ruling out a run for the White House in 2024, that is, unless former president Donald Trump jumps in the race.
“I think he’s gonna run. And if President Trump runs, I’ll support him,” Noem told chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett on this week’s episode of “The Takeout.”
Noem has long backed the former president and is widely considered a potential vice presidential pick, should Trump capture the Republican nomination a third time.
But she takes issue with Trump’s brash and often deceitful approach to politics that leans heavily on personal insults of perceived enemies.
“I can’t fix that about him. I’ve said many, many times that is one of the things I don’t appreciate about him,” Noem said, going on to praise him for his handling of the COVID pandemic [“South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s Take on 2024, Trump, and the Jan. 6 Hearings,” CBS News—The Takeout, 2022.07.29].
Corey Lewandowski must have whispered some sweet somethings into Kristi’s ear in Florida about the winds shifting away from Trump.
At least she was smart enough to mention this _after_ her re-election, knowing that many of her supporters like Trump.
I mean, poor Liz Cheney, after dumping Trump and then getting ostracized, is now being joined by other Republicans (cowards for waiting this long).
If Noem has mentioned many, many times “things I don’t appreciate about him”, she certainly hasn’t emphasized this that I know of. (Again, for good reason, knowing her supporters generally support Trump)
She takes issue with Trumps brash and deceitful approach? Haaahaaahaa, Noem should tell Sherry Bren that she’s not like that. She should also fess up about all the lies she told about Jamie Smith.
I note that Corey Lewandowski was right there, “managing” her…
Here’s the problem:…“Our job is not just to talk to people who love Trump or hate Trump. Our job is to talk to every single American” [Epstein, Lerer, and Weisman, 2022.11.16].
As always, Noem thinks if she talks to someone they care to listen. I don’t, and I’m not alone. I would suggest that politicians really have to LISTEN to people, act on what the people want. In other words talk to them with your actions.
Politicians like Noem, Trump and such are so arrogant that they think people will be bowled over by their erudition and wisdom. Really, we are not. We sit there and laugh at them, if we can climb down off our anger long enough to see that some politicians don’t have an effing clue . What politicians should do is shut up for a while, listen and act. Do the work the people want, and stop pretending you know better than the people you think you want to talk to.
Noem could start by beginning to institute Medicaid expansion. People voted for it. They told her what they wanted. Do you think she’s listening or do she just want to sit up on her throne and tell people how wrong they are? People are telling her that her Hillsdale curriculum is ridiculous. She should admit she made a mistake.. If she listened to the people, not her political donors and advisers, she might actually learn something.
One thing you know about Noem is that she won’t listen to you. If you don’t tell her what she wants to hear, she doesn’t listen. Why would you even listen to someone who cares so little for you?
Yet, Mr. Pay, while you don’t want to listen to Ms. Noem you are afflicted with a terrible case of NDS. Just terrible, for which the only cure might be for her to be elected as the Vice President. For somebody other that Mr. Trump, of course. We cannot have Mr. Trump, as he is the Democrat Party’s best hope.
Did Dan Lederman fly down yonder with South Dakota’s Chief Decider or is his daily visit to the local larder just too compelling?
They say Mr. Seiler is quitting on the Democrat party. They say Ms. Paula Hawks is coming back. Will that really grind your peanut butter, Lar? I know last time she was running the show you seemed to amp up the rate at which your despisement was growing.
Grudz, you are right about Trump, wrong about everything else.
Speaking of bull semen, the word on the street is Dan Lederman just can’t get enough and has added a dollop to his morning protein shake.
If you care to listen to Noem Nothing, you are destroying what few brain cells you ever had and will end up as goofy and dememted as grudzilla.
That’s funny, Larry. :)
They say it’s more than a dollop, Lar. They say it’s more like the Boston cream pie cupcakes you used to enjoy, back in the day.
The ground is eroding away under Trump….it’s been a slow process and it continues. He doesn’t have a second act. It’s the same old, same old.
I have to believe that Sara Palin specter is an albatross that Noem will not easily shake. Another attractive but brash “momma grizzly” demagogue won’t play well in a tight political fight when a candidate will be expected to deliver a set loyal of voters in tow. As a number two on a ticket, what does deficiencies does she shore up? Is she the “little bit country” to the nominee’s “little bit rock and roll?” Who is that GOP bad-boy? After this whole lot remade themselves as MAGA drones, they became interchangeable, but at the same time, useless in supporting roles.
Is there anyone within the range of my keyboard who who trade places with Bryon Noem?
Am I the only one who wonders what the first husband thinks about this trip with the big Lew… again?
Whichever way the wind blows so goes Kristi…
They are saying Ms. Hawks is going to make a big announcement tomorrow.
You know, what really did in the Republican’s this election? Abortion, it will do them in again in 2024. That and Generation Z. The Z’s voted overwhelmingly for Democrats and there will be more of them in two years and less of the Village people.
Grudzilla is still sore from his testicles being ripped off on election day.
Mark, great feeling that Gen Z cancelled out Republican Senior voters isn’t it? Young voters came out in droves and voted as high as 68% Democrat in some areas. Youth power!
Good entertainment to see the GOP melt down over this.
“Our job is to talk”—yup: that’s the pols’ mantra, belief in marketing and campaigning over delivering actual policy results.
SX makes a key point at the top: in typical finger-in-the-wind fashion, Noem says what she needs to see in each moment to boost her chances of winning elections. Before this election, she had to keep saying “Trump Trump Trump” to keep the Trump base and avoid any sort of Liz-Cheney-like backlash. Now that she has power for four years, and now that she sees other Republicans questioning the wisdom of remaining hitched to Trump modifies her message to change her target audience. And notice, her target audience isn’t really the youth; it’s just the elite donors who may help propel her 2024 Presidential bid.
But she can’t even make that statement clear. Noem evidently spent yesterday spinning back her rejection of Trump, saying fluff about his being the only person running and the obvious leader of the GOP and that she just meant everyone, not just Trump, needs to help with GOP messaging.
And the GOP message so far seems to be:
a) “We’re gonna have a Congressional committee investigate Hunter Biden and his laptop!”
(badly needed tho’ he has no position in the government, never has. Just Biden’s son)
b) “We’re gonna block every move Biden makes the next two years!”
(and now that we have the Supreme Court-it’ll be a slam-dunk)
c) “As a political party, the GOP needs no platform or stated purpose other than “Whatever” the Democrats want-we
be against!