Former ‘ICE Barbie’ and professed dog-killer Kristi Noem was trolled online after posting a photo in full glam and hunting with her dog, as social media users have flooded her comments saying her pup looks ‘petrified.’
Noem shared a picture with her hair freshly curled and bundled up in camo hunting gear. She sported a bright orange fleece and hat that matched her dog’s collar. One hand gripped her hunting dog, and the other held a hunting rifle.
‘Happy Opener, South Dakota! Foster and I wish you good luck in the field!’ she wrote.
‘Pheasant hunting is part of who we are, and it’s a tradition worth passing on to our kids and grandkids.’
Noem added that during her tenure as the state’s governor, she launched a program to turn land into wildlife habitat for hunting.
But social media users were quick to express concern for Foster as Noem famously detailed a shocking story in one of her memoirs about killing her hunting dog Cricket.
Before she joined the Trump administration, Noem wrote in her book, No Going Back, that she shot Cricket in a gravel pit after the dog showed he was ‘untrainable.’
The sensational story went viral and became synonymous with her political persona. Social media users seized the chance to bring it up again after her recent post.
Kristi Noem was slammed on social media after posting a photo hunting with her dog. Picture source: X/@KristiNoem
Noem has shared multiple photos online with her hunting dog, Foster. She previously confessed to putting her former dog Cricket down in her book. Picture source: Facebook
Noem served as Trump’s Department of Homeland Security Secretary before she was fired following multiple controversies. She’s pictured above filming an advertisement last October
‘The worst possible thing you could post would be a dog and a gun, lady. Come on,’ one user wrote.
‘That dog looks nervous AF. Can’t blame him,’ another added.
‘You can see the pleading for help in his eyes,’ wrote a third.
‘That’s the face of a dog that read her book,’ a fourth trolled.
‘Look at that intense stare! He knows!’ added a fifth.
Noem wrote in her book that Cricket was only 14 months old when she put him down. She said the pup had an ‘aggressive personality’ and detailed an instance when he misbehaved during a hunting trip.
She accused the dog of behaving like a ‘trained assassin,’ arguing that he killed chickens and bit her.
‘I hated that dog,’ Noem confessed, writing that Cricket was ‘less than worthless’ and ‘untrainable.’
The story was meant to prove her belief that she could do what was necessary in politics and in life, but the anecdote was widely criticized instead.
‘We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm,’ Noem said on social media after the story went viral.
Noem said in her book, pictured above, that she killed Cricket with a gun after he proved to be ‘untrainable.’ Picture source: Amazon
Even though Noem had a long career in politics before her brush with the Trump administration, the shooting of her family dog was an introduction for many to her.
The controversy became the first of many for Noem as she stepped further into the spotlight. After just over a year at the helm of Department of Homeland Security (DHS), she was fired.
And just weeks after Noem departed DHS, photos published by the Daily Mail showed her husband, Bryon, posing in tight pink shorts and a flesh-colored crop top stretched over enormous fake breasts.
Noem filed for divorce late last month.
After her stint at DHS, Noem was appointed to a position at the State Department as a special envoy for The Shield of the Americas. That role expired last month, and she is now transitioning to a position with the department as a senior advisor, Noem wrote in a statement on Friday.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Noem’s representatives for comment.
