“You can recover from many things in politics, but not from killing a dog.” The words of Meghan McCain, the daughter of the late Republican Senator John McCain, summarize the avalanche of bipartisan controversy that has been unleashed against Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota and one of Donald Trump's possible vice-presidential candidates.
In a book due out in the next few weeks, Noem confessed to killing one of her dogs, a 14-month-old puppy. “I hated it,” he wrote.
“He was undisciplined and couldn't be trained,” he added, explaining that he included the episode in the book to show his determination to act even in the most difficult things. “It's awful. A 14-month-old dog is still a puppy and can be trained,” commented Alyssa Farah Griffin, formerly part of Trump's White House staff.
“I don't know who suggested to her that it would be a good idea to include the killing of a 14-month-old dog but I'm willing to bet that it will cause problems for her if she were to be chosen as vice president. The case – states Rachel Bade of Politico – dwarfs Mitt Romney's 2012 episode when he drove for hours with his dog on the roof of the car, locked in a carrier.