Trump VP Hopeful Kristi Noem Suggests Biden’s Dog Should Be Shot Like Hers

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who has come under fire in recent days for her admission to killing her misbehaving 14-month-old dog Cricket, has suggested that President Joe Biden’s dog Commander should meet the same fate.

In an interview on Sunday on Face the Nation, Noem, who is reportedly a contender to be former President Donald Trump’s running mate in 2024, was asked about a passage in her forthcoming memoir in which she wrote that one of her first priorities if she were at the White House would be to make sure that Commander, Biden’s bite-prone German shepherd, was nowhere on the grounds—and that Commander should “say hello to Cricket.”

“Are you doing this to try to look tough?” moderator Margaret Brennan asked Noem.

“Joe Biden’s dog has attacked 24 Secret Service people,” Noem explained. “So how many people is enough people to be attacked and dangerously hurt before you make a decision on a dog?”

Brennan interjected, noting that Commander no longer lives at the White House, and sought clarification: “You’re saying he should be shot?” 

But Noem continued without answering, “That’s what the president should be held accountable to…”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing on Monday that Noem’s insinuation was “disturbing” and “absurd.”

“We learned last week, obviously like all of you, in her book that she killed her puppy. You heard me say, that was very, very sad,” Jean-Pierre said. “This is a country that loves dogs, and you have a leader talking about putting dogs down—killing them.” She added that Noem “probably should stop digging herself in a hole.”

Noem was also asked on Sunday about other controversial passages, including a line about meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that she has admitted was false, from No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward, which is set to be published on May 7.