Kristi Noem criticizes GOP governors who enacted Covid-19 mandates while accusing some of rewriting their history

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“We have Republican governors across this country claiming that they haven’t closed their states; that they haven’t closed their regions; that they haven’t mandated the masks,” the candidate said. potential for the White House in 2024 as she drew a but stark contrast to leaders like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who have taken a more restrictive approach in their states. “Now, I’m not fighting Republican governors. All I’m saying is we need leaders with courage. That their first instinct is the right instinct.”

“Demand the honesty of your leaders and make sure each of them is prepared to make the tough decisions,” added Noem, who has repeatedly touted his hands-off approach to Covid-19 throughout his career. speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference – highlighting the fact that it has never ordered the closure of a “one-stop-shop”. “South Dakota didn’t take any of these (actions). We didn’t mandate. We trusted our people and that told them that personal responsibility was the best answer.”

Even when cases increased in his state last November, Noem refused to impose masks and chose not to implement the precautionary measures many other governors were taking to slow the spread of Covid-19. She insisted that her condition had been most effective in quickly identifying and isolating cases. As of the weekend, South Dakota had 230 deaths per 100,000 population, according to data from Johns Hopkins University – ranking the state 10th in this measure among the 50 states. The state had 14,090 cases per 100,000 population, placing South Dakota the third highest rate in the country.

But in an October editorial in the Rapid City Journal, Noem rejected “mandatory masking” noting that some had questioned the effectiveness of the masks, calling on each family to make “informed decisions for themselves.”

“As I said before, if people want to wear a mask, they should be free to do so,” she wrote in this article. “Likewise, those who don’t want to wear a mask shouldn’t be ashamed to wear one. And the government shouldn’t force it.”

She became a star at the CPAC conference in Orlando in February, in part targeting Dr.Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease specialist, and insisting her party could win by articulating more clearly than the curators “aren’t here to tell you how to live your life.” To loud cheers, she said: “I don’t know if you agree with me, but Dr Fauci is very wrong.”

Noem’s political future

Her comments on Sunday were a shot from Noem as she positions herself in a field that has been essentially frozen by former President Donald Trump, who teases another run for his old office as he falsely claims his competition of 2020 with Joe Biden was rigged.

Noem, who was greeted with a standing ovation at CPAC hours before Trump spoke on Sunday, was defined in part by her intense loyalty to Trump after a year in which she campaigned aggressively for the help re-elect him. In a brief exchange with reporters on Sunday after her speech, she said she hoped to see Trump run again in 2024. When asked about her own ambitions, she objected.

“I think he would be fantastic. He gets up every day and he fights for this country,” Noem said. “Most people when they looked at what he and his family went through would be exhausted and quit, out of discouragement. And the fact that he is still fighting is an inspiration to me.”

“Would I introduce myself? Oh, I’m not focusing on that,” she said when told about her plans at the White House. “I love South Dakota and have worked to get home to South Dakota so that I can be there and be with my people and ride horses for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy. . “

When asked if she would be willing to join Trump on the 2024 ticket as number 2, as some GOP voters would like to see her do as a replacement for former Vice President Mike Pence, she said she was “open to going home and putting on my cowboy boots right now. I’ve been wearing these heels for a long time.”

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