South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem speaks at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum during the National Rifle Association (NRA) Annual Meeting on May 27, 2022 in Houston, Texas, USA.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, once a strong contender to become former President Donald Trump’s vice president, suggested Sunday that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee should choose a woman as vice president.
“Having a wife to help him campaign makes a difference. Listen, I could be at home in bed feeding my horses or rocking my grandchildren,” Noem said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But I’m in Wisconsin because I believe President Trump has to win.”
Noem added that female voters tend to prioritize small business policy alongside child care and health care, an issue on which Trump has lagged behind President Joe Biden, according to polls in recent months.
In March, a Quinnipiac University poll showed that Trump’s support among female voters fell 5% following the civil lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll over sexual assault and defamation allegations.
Since then, the former president has been convicted of 34 counts in a New York trial over a hush money payment he made to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
Trump’s support from women also posed a threat to his electoral chances in 2016, particularly after the leaked “Access Hollywood” recording in which the GOP nominee made crude comments about non-consensual sexual advances toward women.
“All the polls tell him in these swing states that having a woman on the ticket will help him win,” Noem said Sunday.
Noem’s comments also come as she reaffirms her loyalty to Trump despite reportedly being left off his vice presidential shortlist.
According to NBC News, Trump has narrowed his search to four leading candidates: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
“I don’t care. I love my job in South Dakota,” Noem said Sunday about those reports.
Noem once had optimistic prospects as a potential candidate to replace Trump, but recent backlash over a controversial anecdote in her new memoir downgraded her position. The excerpt described a situation several decades ago in which Noem decided to shoot her 14-month-old puppy, Cricket, due to misbehavior that she said raised safety concerns.
Noem repeatedly stood by her decision to kill Cricket, including in Sunday’s interview: “This story is the 20-year-old story of a mother who made a very difficult decision to protect her children from a vicious animal that was attacking livestock.”
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2024-06-09 16:31:25
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