South Dakota Democratic Party leaders call for state comms chief's removal from office
The South Dakota Democratic Party wants Ian Fury, Gov. Kristi Noem's chief of communications, out of office.
Party Chair Shane Merrill and Vice Chair Jessica Meyers called for Fury's removal in a statement Wednesday, citing "negative national headlines" garnered during his time as Noem's communications lead.
This comes after Noem received national criticism for writing about killing her 14-month-old hunting dog, Cricket, and a goat 20 years ago in her recently released book, "No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward."
"At a time when Gov. Noem once again lacks a chief of staff, action must be made to hold individuals accountable for what can only be described as an utter failure in doing the basics of a public relations job," Merrill and Meyers wrote in the joint statement. "Fury should not have allowed the publication of the Governor’s recent book without proper fact-checking and review."
The South Dakota governor has also been in the spotlight for errors in her book. The Dakota Scout first reported in early May Noem described meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, an anecdote which Fury later told the outlet was a result of conflating names with other international figures.
SDDP Executive Director Dan Ahlers told the Argus Leader on Tuesday that while the recent negative publicity focused on South Dakota is tied to the dog-killing anecdote and inaccuracies included Noem's book, Fury is responsible for the public relations "fumbles."
"Public service is an honor and a privilege," Merril and Meyers stated. "South Dakota taxpayers should not be on the hook paying Ian Fury more than $144,000 a year salary to destroy the reputation of our state and negate the millions of dollars spent to advertise South Dakota across the country."
Some national attention has also been fixated on Noem's relationship with South Dakota's Native American tribes. Multiple tribal nations have banned the governor from entering their lands, with the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Tribe being the fifth as of Monday.
In April, Noem released a statement about the presence of Mexican cartels on South Dakota's Native American reservations and called on tribal authorities to "banish the cartels." Prior to this, she also called for an audit of federal funds going to South Dakota’s Native American tribes.
"South Dakota looks terrible right now, and we continually get bad publicity," Ahlers said. "They can sit there and they can do what they been doing — blaming everybody else — but in the end, when that many people are pointing out mistakes and errors and inaccuracies, are they the ones who are wrong, or is somebody not doing their job?"
The state Democratic Party's critiques of Fury's performance as communications chief also lists "a documented history of contempt and avoidance of our local news outlets."
The Argus Leader reached out to Fury by phone and email Wednesday for a statement. The Argus Leader also sent a follow-up email Wednesday afternoon to Fury, as well as Noem's press secretary Amelia Joy, asking whether the Governor's Office disputes the state Democratic Party's claims, would be investigating the claims or would be taking action. As of noon Thursday, neither the Governor's Office or Fury had responded.
The Governor's Office also previously ignored questions from the Argus Leader about Noem's Cricket anecdote and the governor's positive history with animals as depicted in her first memoir, "Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland."
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: SDDP leaders call for Kristi Noem comms chief Ian Fury's removal
