Admitted puppy killer Kristi Noem again defended her upcoming book “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong With Politics and How We Move America Forward” during a Sunday morning interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” She responded to a question about her claim in the book that she’d met North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un — a book for which she also narrated the audiobook — by stating, “This anecdote shouldn’t have been in the book,” but Noem remained defensive.
“Margaret, as soon as it was brought to my attention, I took action to make sure that it was reflected,” Noem said. “And listen, this is what is so discouraging about politics in the media today, is that we have the White House that just recently came out and confirmed that President Joe Biden has misspoken, has made mistakes, has even outright lied over, close to 150 times just this year, and you’ve done nothing to question him on any of that.”
“And you’re you’re talking about a book that hasn’t been released yet, that’s been corrected before it’s been released, and you haven’t said one thing about Joe Biden saying that he was in prison with Nelson Mandela, that he started the civil rights movement,” Noem continued.
During his 2020 presidential run, Biden repeatedly claimed that he was arrested in South Africa while in the country to see Nelson Mandela in the 1970s. Mandela was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison in Cape Town between the years 1964 and 1982. The Biden campaign eventually admitted that he was not arrested, and was referring to having been detained and separated from his Black colleagues at the airport in Johannesburg.
After Margaret Brennan said she would ask Biden “about his record” if he’s a guest on the show, Noem replied, “I’m just asking — why am I being treated differently than every other person that you’ve interviewed? I’ve looked at your last several interviews, you don’t interrupt other people, you let them talk. Thank you for inviting me to have this conversation about this book.”
The conversation began after Brennan quoted a passage from the book in which Noem claimed, “I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants. I’ve been a children’s pastor, after all.”
Brennan then asked Noem point-blank if the meeting had ever transpired. “You know, as soon as this was brought to my attention, I certainly made some changes and looked at this this passage,” Noem said evasively.
“I’ve met with many many world leaders. I’ve traveled around the world. As soon as it was brought to my attention, we went forward and have made some edits. So I’m glad that this book is being released in a couple of days and that those edits will be in place and that people will will have the updated version,” she added.
“So you did not meet with Kim Jung Un,” Brennan replied. “That’s what you’re saying.”
“I’ve met with many, many world leaders, many world leaders,” Noem reiterated. “I’ve traveled around the world. I think I’ve talked extensively in this book about my time serving in Congress, my time as governor, before governor, some of the travels that I’ve had. I’m not going to talk about my specific meetings with world leaders. I’m just not going to do that.”
While she narrated the audiobook, it also wasn’t immediately clear if she had used any of the now-available AI-assisted recording features that allow authors to have passages read based on samples of their voice. Her audiobook publisher did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Watch the interview with Kristi Noem in the video above.
