Kristi Noem Claps Back After Dog Shooting Insult: "I Love Puppies!"

“Oh but I am…And I love puppies. You…? …not so much.” That’s how Kristi Noem decided to respond to a savage dig from Democratic Senator Tina Smith on X, and boy, did it stir the pot.

Smith posted a cozy snapshot of herself with an adorable puppy, captioning it, “Don’t worry, buddy, Kristi Noem isn’t around anymore.” The jab was a pointed reference to the infamous incident where Noem shot her own puppy, Cricket, because she deemed it “untrainable.”

But instead of silencing the critics, Noem’s retort only fanned the flames. Social media users quickly reminded her of the shocking details from her memoir, where she candidly recounted the tragic fate of her 14-month-old pointer puppy. “One could say you love them to death,” one user quipped, while another added, “You love puppies, but when you see a gravel pit, you just can’t help yourself.”

Former GOP congressman Adam Kinzinger didn’t hold back either, stating, “Kristi, I know you. Watching you go from a normal person to what you have become… A troll… An act, the furthest thing from a Christian you can be, has been among the most shocking things I’ve witnessed in politics. It’s sad. You legit were the last person I would have suspected.”

The Pointer puppy incident is detailed in her memoir, *No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward*, which sparked outrage upon its release in 2024. The backlash was swift; the Democratic National Committee even chimed in with a scathing remark: “If you want elected officials who don’t brag about brutally killing their pets... vote Democrat.”

Even within her own party, Noem faced backlash. Meghan McCain, daughter of the late Republican senator John McCain, remarked, “You can recover from a lot of things in politics, change the narrative, etc., but not from killing a dog.”

Yet Noem stood her ground, defending her actions on X by stating, “We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm.”

Adding fuel to the fire, Noem recently stirred controversy by living in a house previously designated for a Coast Guard commandant. Reports indicate that she remained in the waterfront home for a month after being ousted from her role as Secretary of Homeland Security. She has since vacated the premises.