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WASHINGTON — Kristi Noem suggested Sunday that President Joe Biden’s dog Commander should meet a similar fate as her 14-month-old dog Cricket, whom the South Dakota governor reportedly described shooting and killing in her coming book.
“Joe Biden’s dog has attacked 24 Secret Service people. So how many people is enough people to be attacked and dangerously hurt before you make a decision on a dog and what to do with it?” Noem, who is considered a potential running mate for former President Donald Trump, said in an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Commander, a German shepherd, was relocated from the White House last year after a series of biting incidents.
According to CBS News, Noem’s memoir, set to be released this week, also includes a reference to Commander. In the book, Noem says that if she were to make it to the White House, she would first ensure that Biden’s dog was not on the premises. “Commander, say hello to Cricket,” she imagines herself saying, according to CBS News.
When “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan pointed out that Commander no longer resides at the White House and asked Noem whether she meant to say Biden’s dog should be shot, Noem replied, “That what’s the president should be accountable to.”
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House declined to comment.
Noem on Sunday continued defending her account of killing her dog. The incident is reportedly described in her coming book; the story came to light when The Guardian obtained an advance copy.
NBC News has not obtained a copy of Noem’s book and cannot independently confirm The Guardian’s account.
In her book, Noem reportedly describes her dog as “less than worthless” and “untrainable.” She also details Cricket’s killing a neighbor’s chickens, according to The Guardian. After having shot her dog, Noem reportedly killed her family’s goat, which she called “nasty and mean.”
“I made a difficult choice. I think you’re a mother, too. And you have little kiddos,” Noem said in Sunday’s interview. “Would you make a choice between your children or a dangerous animal? And I think I would ask everybody in the country to put themselves in that situation.”
Asked why she did not take the dog to a shelter instead of killing it, Noem said Cricket was “a working dog” who and “had come from a family that had already had issues with this dog.”
“I didn’t ask somebody else to take that responsibility for me. … I had to make that decision myself,” she added.
Noem has repeatedly defended her decision, which she said she made more than 20 years ago, saying her dog was a “working dog,” “not a puppy.”
Megan Lebowitz is a politics reporter for NBC News.
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