Kristi Noem participates in the South Dakota Buffalo Roundup in September 2023. (Fox News Digital )
As Noem works to help deliver on President Donald Trump's campaign vow to lock down the border and clean house of illegal immigrants who flooded the nation under the Biden administration, critics have latched onto criticizing Noem’s wardrobe selection.
Then-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem helps construct border fencing in 2024. (Fox News Digital )
"People in New York or D.C. wouldn’t last a day in the real America," he said. "I told folks she’d be an ass kicker, and that’s exactly what she’s doing."
A source close to Noem, who spoke to Fox News Digital on the background of the secretary's upbringing, speculated that critics likely "just don’t get her," while arguing that complaints about men’s wardrobe choices are few and far between.
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"Kristi Noem was taught by her father not to complain about a problem, but to go and fix it," the source said. "She gets her hands dirty when she throws herself into a job and that’s what she’s doing."
Then-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem repeatedly visited southern states amid the immigration crisis, which she said created a "warzone." (Fox News Digital )
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Noem grew up on a ranch in South Dakota’s rural Hamlin County and has remained close to her country roots.
She came under fire in 2024, when she published a memoir that garnered outrage for defending the killing of a farm dog that attacked other animals.
"Petty insults" aimed at Kristi Noem are actually borne out of opposition to Trump’s immigration policies, one government source said. (Fox News Digital )
Another Noem ally close to the secretary who spoke to Fox News Digital said that "petty insults" aimed at Noem are actually borne out of opposition to Trump’s immigration policies.
"The simple fact is that many of her critics are opposed to President Trump’s mission to keep the nation safe by fighting illegal immigration, and they’ll try to undermine it any way they can — and that includes hurling petty insults at the Secretary of Homeland Security to undermine her and the president," the source close who Noem said. "It won’t work. She’s sworn to do the job the president gave her of protecting this country, and that’s what she’s going to do."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/thats-who-she-is-noem-allies-rally-shes-definition-south-dakota-toughness-amid-wardrobe-criticisms