South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem's (R) autobiography hasn't been published, but mistakes in the writing are already surfacing.
Noem's representative mentioned that the Republican governor has been made aware of "two small errors". The book is called "No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward."
The Dakota Scout noted on Thursday that Noem's book claimed she met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un while in Congress on the House Armed Services Committee.
“During my time on the House Armed Services Committee, I had the opportunity to travel to many countries to meet with world leaders,” she reportedly wrote in the upcoming book. “I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience confronting little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all).”
The Dakota Scout spoke with congressional staff and North Korea experts who explained why such a meeting was highly unlikely. While Noem visited China in 2014 as part of the committee, there is no record of Kim leaving North Korea until 2018, when Noem was campaigning for governor.
An analyst pointed out to the publication that not even former President Obama had met Kim, and former President Trump met Kim in the summer of 2018.
In an email sent to The Hill, Noem’s spokesperson Ian Fury said Kim “was included in a list of world leaders and shouldn’t have been.”
Noem also wrote about a “weird” conversation she had with former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who Noem said called her and offered to be a mentor in the summer of 2021.
According to an excerpt from the book obtained by Politico, Noem writes that Haley said she had “heard quite a bit” about her, but Noem said she felt threatened by the call.
Noem said Haley made it clear that there was only space for one Republican woman to be in the spotlight. The South Dakota governor has been rumored to be on Trump’s short-list for vice president, despite another story in her book — about killing her dog — has not helped her prospects.
Politico reported that a Haley spokesperson said the two women spoke, but in 2020, not 2021. Fury confirmed the 2020 timing of the conversation in his statement.
Fury said the errors have “been communicated to the ghostwriter and editor” and “the book has not been released yet, and all future editions will be corrected.”
“The media will, of course, try and make these tiny issues huge,” Fury said in a statement, going on to list dubious claims made by President Biden about his own life.
Last week, Noem made national headlines after excerpts of the book were reported where she detailed shooting her 14-month-old dog, Cricket, after he misbehaved during a hunting trip.
Noem doubled down on her actions, despite receiving sharp criticism from across the political spectrum.
