Late-night show host Seth Meyers compared South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem to Buffalo Bill from “Silence of the Lambs” after she revealed in her forthcoming book that she had killed her dog.
Ms. Noem, who is reportedly on Donald Trump’s shortlist for vice president, describes in her upcoming book “No Going Back” how she shot her dog named Cricket because it was “untrainable”.
In the book, Governor Noem describes Cricket as a “wirehair pointer, about 14 months old,” according to an excerpt provided by The Guardian.
“I hated that dog,” she wrote, explaining that Cricket was “untrainable”, “a danger to anyone she came in contact with” and “less than worthless… as a hunting dog.”
“At that moment,” Ms. Noem recounted, “I realized I had to put her down.” She admitted that although “it was not a pleasant task… it was necessary.”
On Monday night’s episode, Seth Meyers expressed his shock at the grim story, labeling it as “a level of psycho I didn’t even know was possible”.
“To kill a dog — named Cricket, and then boast about it in a book is one thing,” Meyers commented.
“She thought sharing the story would make her seem impressive. What is she thinking? Does she believe cats can vote?” the late-night host added.
“It’s awful enough to kill a dog, but to boast about it is even more bizarre,” he stated. “That’s a level of crazy I didn’t even know existed.”
Meyers then drew a parallel to the “Silence of the Lambs” character: “Even Buffalo Bill had the decency to hide his terrible deeds indoors. He didn’t parade around town saying, ‘Hey, check out my new outfit. It’s made of human skin.’”
In her memoir, Ms. Noem also mentioned her aversion to a family-owned goat, commenting on its “disgusting, musky, rancid” smell and “nasty and mean” behavior due to not being castrated.
Amid backlash for her admission of killing Cricket the dog, the vice-presidential hopeful defended her past actions in an unusual manner.
She stated on X: “We love animals, but difficult decisions like this are common on a farm. Sadly, we just had to euthanize 3 horses a few weeks ago that had been part of our family for 25 years.”
In another X post, she justified her decision, writing: “I understand why some are upset about a 20-year-old story of Cricket, one of the working dogs at our ranch, in my upcoming book.”
“The truth is, under South Dakota law, dogs that attack and kill livestock can be euthanized. Given Cricket’s aggressive behavior toward people, including biting, I made that decision,” she explained.
Her book, which Ms. Noem claims will feature “more real, honest, and politically INcorrect stories that’ll shock the media,” is set to be released in May.
