The White House on Monday said that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) should “stop digging herself into a hole” after she suggested that President Biden’s dog, Commander, should haven been shot after biting Secret Service agents.
Noem has been criticized recently for revealing in her soon-to-be-released memoir that she shot her 14-month-old dog, Cricket, about 20 years ago. In an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, she suggested Biden’s German shepherd, who bit Secret Service personnel at least two dozen times between October 2022 and June 2023, should have met a similar fate.
“I would say to her is, she probably should stop digging herself into a hole,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters in response.
She added that the White House found Noem’s comments on Sunday about Commander “disturbing” and “absurd.”
“Here, this is a country that loves dogs and you have a leader talking about putting dogs down, killing them,” she said. “And, that’s a disturbing statement to say.”
Noem wrote in her upcoming book, “No Going Back,” that if she ever got to the White House, she would differ from Biden in his handling of Commander.
“Commander, say hello to Cricket,” she wrote.
Jean-Pierre said on Monday that Commander is living with a family member in Delaware after leaving the White House in October.
Noem, who is seen as a possible vice presidential pick for former President Trump’s 2024 ticket, told CBS, “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?”
“That’s a question that the president should be held accountable to,” she added.
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