OnPolitics: Kristi Noem faces backlash after she writes about putting down her dog

Hey OnPolitics readers! South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has been a topic of online chatter after excerpts from her upcoming memoir were published by The Guardian that detailed how she put down her dog.

The story caught the attention of politicians on both sides of the aisle. The Democratic National Committee called the excerpts from the book "horrifying" and "disturbing," USA TODAY's Julia Gomez reported. Amid the backlash, Noem responded that she understands "why some people are upset about a 20-year-old story" but defended her decision.

?? Uh, what happened? According to The Guardian, Noem said she killed her dog because of its “aggressive personality” and called the dog "untrainable." She writes that the dog's name was Cricket and that she was a 14-month-old wirehair pointer.

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?Who is Noem? Noem is also a rancher, farmer and small-business owner. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 and in 2018 was elected South Dakota's first female governor.

??Could Noem run with Donald Trump? The governor is a contender to become former President Donald Trump's running mate, but recent polling from New River Strategies, which was published by Politico, says only 14% of Americans consider her a good choice for the Republican ticket.

Read more: Who is Kristi Noem? What we know about the Trump VP contender and why she killed a dog

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kristi Noem faces backlash after she writes about killing her dog