Kristi Noem Defends Shooting 'Extremely Dangerous' Family Dog In Fox News Interview

Source: Forbes

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Wednesday defended her decision to shoot and kill her family's 14-month-old hunting dog -- a fact she disclosed in her upcoming book -- and blamed "fake news" for putting the "worst spin" on the matter, which has drawn widespread public outrage and likely harmed her chances in the GOP's vice presidential nominee race.

Speaking on why she included this story in her book, Noem said: "The reason it's in the book is because this book is filled with tough, challenging decisions I've had to make throughout my life...The point of this story is most politicians, they will run from the truth, they will shy away and hide from making tough decisions. I don't do either of those."

During the interview, Hannity attempted to draw a parallel between Noem's dog and President Joe Biden's German Shepherd several times. Referencing the president's dog Commander, Hannity said: "When all is said and done, 24 Secret Service agents were bitten by a German Shepherd, by a big dog." The Fox News host then appeared to suggest that Biden, unlike Noem, failed to act against the dog to stop the incidents. "In that particular case, if somebody is biting people in large numbers like that, wouldn't it...it's a sad thing to do, but at some point doesn't it become the responsible thing for the safety of others that you don't allow a dog, at least around anybody else?" In October last year, the incidents led to the German Shepherd being moved out of the White House. According to CNN, Commander was now living with other members of the president's family.