The Smile, the Dog, and the Dagger
Kristi Noem’s Strange Bid for Spotlight
Custom Spotify song: Smile & Dagger
It began innocently enough, with a smile. In March 2024, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem filmed a nearly five-minute video praising a Houston dental practice for its cosmetic work. “The team here was remarkable and finally gave me a smile that I can be proud of and confident in,” she said, the testimonial glowing, the delivery polished according to ABC News.
But behind that gleaming veneer came a lawsuit. A D.C. consumer advocacy group, Travelers United, accused Noem of engaging in deceptive advertising practices. They argued her promotion was not an off-the-cuff personal endorsement but a hidden advertisement. A judge dismissed the case for lack of proof she had been properly served, yet the group insists otherwise, filing new documents that not only confirm service but describe a process server who left the encounter feeling “legitimately threatened” by Noem and her staff, Politico reported.
That allegation landed in the shadow of a more shocking revelation: Noem’s own memoir, No Going Back. In its pages, she recounts shooting her 14-month-old dog, Cricket, and later a goat, with a flatness that disturbed readers across the political spectrum, as covered by The Guardian. What might once have been framed as prairie grit instead read as cruelty—and a chilling window into her instincts when confronted with the inconvenient.
Even as outrage swirled, the book debuted on the bestseller list. But the dagger symbol next to its title told a different story: its success was manufactured through bulk sales, a common tactic for politicians who seek the aura of bestseller status without the grassroots readership to back it up. In publishing, as South Dakota Searchlight noted, the dagger is a scarlet letter—proof that the numbers have been arranged, not earned.
Her controversies over ads and memoir were not the first time she stood in open defiance of her own citizens. In 2020, South Dakotans approved Constitutional Amendment A, a measure to legalize recreational marijuana. Noem opposed the amendment even before the vote, calling it “the wrong choice for South Dakota’s communities.” After voters passed it, she backed a lawsuit to have it overturned. The challenge, filed by state troopers at her direction, argued that the amendment violated South Dakota’s “single-subject” rule for ballot measures, MJBizDaily reported.
In November 2021, the South Dakota Supreme Court agreed, striking down Amendment A. Noem celebrated the ruling, saying it “protects and safeguards our constitution,” according to the Washington Post. Two years later, when another adult-use initiative—Measure 27—appeared on the ballot, she voiced opposition again, though she promised to implement it if voters approved it. They did not, rejecting the measure in 2022, as noted by High Times.
What emerges is not a simple story about a politician with a controversial book or a questionable advertisement. It is the outline of a pattern: a governor who cultivates notoriety over trust, shock over substance, spectacle over service. She insists she was never paid for the dental video and dismisses the lawsuit as a “fake watchdog” smear. Yet even her allies have struggled to explain why a governor from South Dakota is posting cinematic ads for a Texas dentist at all.
The danger is not just that Noem has placed herself at the center of one controversy after another—it’s that she has learned the central lesson of modern politics: outrage sells. Killing a dog becomes a talking point. A dagger on the bestseller list becomes a badge of visibility. A lawsuit becomes a chance to attack critics. Even voter-approved cannabis measures become another stage for confrontation. Each uproar is folded back into the brand.
In the short term, this strategy works. It cements her place in the national conversation, fuels speculation about a vice-presidential slot, and keeps her name circulating in headlines. But in the long term, it corrodes the idea of leadership itself. When cruelty is repackaged as toughness, when staged book sales masquerade as organic demand, when even democracy’s votes are nullified by courtroom maneuvers, the line between governance and grift grows dangerously thin.
And here is the sharpest warning: Noem’s ascent is not unique, but familiar. Her theatrics are not unlike those of her mentor, Donald Trump, who mastered the art of turning spectacle into a governing style. Just as Trump wielded controversy like a weapon—every scandal doubling as free advertising—Noem has embraced shock as strategy. The dog, the goat, the dagger, the smile: each episode ensures she remains the story. But politics conducted as performance art is fragile. Eventually, the applause fades, the spotlight shifts, and voters are left with the unsettling truth: spectacle may dazzle, but it cannot govern.
Full Source List
CBS News – South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem faces lawsuit after viral endorsement of Texas dentists
ABC News – South Dakota governor's endorsement of dental practice draws scrutiny, lawsuit
The Guardian – Trump VP contender Kristi Noem writes of killing dog – and goat – in new book
Ballotpedia – South Dakota Constitutional Amendment A (Marijuana Legalization Initiative), 2020
MJBizDaily – South Dakota governor defends suit to overturn recreational cannabis legalization
PBS NewsHour – South Dakota Supreme Court rules against pot legalization
Washington Post – South Dakota governor backs lawsuit that overturned marijuana legalization
High Times – South Dakota Gov. Noem says she’ll implement new weed law if passed by voters