'The View' goes off on ‘Governor Cruella’ Kristi Noem over killing dog: ‘Sign of a sociopath’
'I just couldn’t believe she wrote about it as if it was normal,' Ana Navarro said
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}ABC’s "The View" co-hosts teed off on South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, labeling her "Governor Cruella" and a "sociopath" over her upcoming memoir that reveals she once killed a young dog.
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg kicked off the segment by noting that "both sides of the aisle do not agree on much" but have been "united in outrage" over an excerpt from Noem's upcoming memoir "No Going Back," which is set to be released on May 7. In the excerpt reported on by The Guardian, Noem described taking her 14-month-old female dog Cricket to a "gravel pit" near her farm and shooting her because it was "less than worthless," "untrainable" and had killed several chickens.
"Give it back, b---h, give it back, why you gonna kill it?" Goldberg said before asking her fellow panelists to chime in.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DEFIANT KRISTI NOEM DEFENDS KILLING FARM PUP AMID CRITICISM FROM DEMS, GOP
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem reveals in an upcoming memoir that she once killed a young dog. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
"This is a puppy. If your dog is acting wrongly, it’s because you are incompetent at training that dog," Alyssa Farah Griffin said.
"If you have a really challenging dog, there are countless organizations to re-home them to someone who loves the dog enough. I want justice for Cricket," she continued. "It’s terrible."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sunny Hostin said a "sign of a sociopath is someone that kills animals"
"I’m not a clinician, but she killed her animal," Hostin said, noting that Noem also described killing a "nasty and mean" goat at the same gravel pit.
Hostin then said Cricket was a hunting dog, and Noem wanted it to help hunt pheasants, so killing a chicken should have been par for the course.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"That’s what she wanted the dog to do, yet she kills the dog," Hostin said.
"Shout out to all of those animal rescues that are out there that would have taken Cricket and loved Cricket," she added. "It is very important for people to understand that sometimes dogs, they are like your children. They are your fur babies, and it is despicable that she not only did this, she wrote about it and is defending it."
SOCIAL MEDIA DISTURBED BY GOV NOEM'S STORY ABOUT SHOOTING HER 14-MONTH-OLD DOG: ‘NOT NORMAL'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sunny Hostin said a "sign of a sociopath is someone that kills animals" when discussing South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem's admission that she once killed a young dog. (Screenshot/ABC)
Ana Navarro, a staunch critic of presumptive GOP nominee former President Trump, then said she hopes Noem is selected as his running mate "so that we can all show up and protest against her with our puppies." She also noted that there are dozens of organizations in South Dakota that help animals.
"The only woman I know who shot dogs is Cruella de Vil. She was a villain in a Disney movie, so now she’s Governor Cruella and … I just couldn’t believe she wrote about it as if it was normal," Navarro said. "If she hates and shoots untrainable dogs who are dangerous to anyone they come into contact with, Trump better be careful."
Sara Haines reminded viewers that Noem also called the dog "less than worthless" as a hunting dog in the excerpt.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Doing it is shocking," Haines said. "The idea that you would write it in a book so anyone else ever knew is like, what was she thinking?"
Griffin said that she believes Noem thought Trump it would make her seem tough, but the former White House director of strategic communications feels that strategy won’t resonate.
BLUE STATE GOVERNORS SHARE PICS OF THEIR DOGS TO DUNK ON GOV NOEM’S STORY OF SHOOTING HER OWN DOG
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Noems book, titled "No Going Back: The Truth on Whats Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward," is slated to be released on May 7. (Kristi Noem)
"He’ll think it’s bizarre. He barely steps foot off of a country club. He does not relate to a woman gunning down … ‘Old Yeller’ style," she said.
Noem initially addressed the controversy on Friday, posting on X that her family loves animals, "but tough decisions" are often made on farms.
"We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm. Sadly, we just had to put down 3 horses a few weeks ago that had been in our family for 25 years," she posted, encouraging people to purchase her memoir for "real, honest, and politically INcorrect stories that’ll have the media gasping."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On Sunday, Noem said she does not shy away from difficult decisions and believes "people are looking for leaders who are authentic."
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Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.