Newsmax host tries to blame Kristi Noem dog killing controversy on a ‘liberal editor’

Kristi Noem shut down Eric Bolling’s theory, saying that she takes ‘full responsibility’ for the controversial stories in the book

Newsmax host Eric Bolling has tried to blame the controversy around Kristi Noem’s confession that she killed her dog on a liberal editor inside the Donald Trump vice presidential candidate’s publishing team.

The South Dakota governor’s book No Going Back has made headlines in recent days after a series of wild and bizarre anecdotes made the final publication, including one particularly controversial passage where she recounts the time she killed her 14-month-old “working dog” Cricket.

In an appearance on Newsmax on Monday, host Mr Bolling sought to offer her an excuse for the scandal by wildly suggesting that the team working on her new memoir had been infiltrated by a “liberal plant”.

The “liberal media folks” have been having “a field day over trying to take down a potential Trump vice presidential pick,” he said – despite backlash coming from Democrats and Republicans alike.

He went on to call out Margaret Brennan over an interview with Ms Noem on CBS’s Face The Nation on Sunday, after the governor complained on X that she was interrupted 36 times.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem speaks before Donald Trump took the stage during a rally in Ohio on 16 March 2024 (AFP via Getty Images)

Mr Bolling proudly told Ms Noem he would give her a minute or so “to tell your side of the story without interrupting you”, to which she doubled down on her claims that the anecdote was supposed to represent all the hard decisions she has made in her life and is willing to make in her political career.

The interview then took a turn when Mr Bolling offered up his own reasons as to why he thinks the passage made the final cut of the book.

“Governor, I’ve also written a couple of books, and I know how the process works. You write some chapters – you don’t write the whole book at once – you write a chapter or two, you send it to the editors, and they edit. They read it, they add, they subtract,” he said.

“And here’s my question. The editor, was she possibly a plant? A liberal plant? Because I’m not sure either one of these stories – the dog story or the North Korea story – seems like the Kristi Noem I know.”

Along with the dog killing story, Ms Noem’s book also includes a passage where she claims she met North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. After questions were raised about the truth of that tale, her team walked it back, saying it shouldn’t have made the final cut.

Despite Mr Bolling’s efforts to grant Ms Noem a scapegoat over the anecdotes, the governor chose not to take him up on the offer.

Instead, she immediately dismissed his theory and responded that she takes “full responsibility” for what has been included in the book.

“No, the buck always stops with me. I take my own full responsibility. I wrote this book, and I take the responsibility for what’s in it,” she replied. “It’s a great book, Eric. I hope everybody reads it and buys it.”

Earlier in the interview, Ms Noem also said that she “wanted people to know the truth” by including the dog-killing story, claiming that, in the last couple of elections in South Dakota, her “political opponents have tried to use this story and have tried to use it against me”.

Ms Noem has repeatedly tried to defend her actions as she continues to face criticism from political commentators, Democrats, and anti-Trump Republicans.

Political strategists also suggested that the story may have affected her chances of becoming Mr Trump’s running mate.

It has now emerged that the controversial passage was in an early draft of her first book Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland, released in 2022. But, according to Politico, the story was eventually axed by the publishing team from that book – before making the cut this time around.

The Independent has contacted Center Street for comment.