Gov. Kristi Noem Pledges to Stand By Trump Even if Convicted and Torches Pence for Having ‘Failed’ Trump Since Jan. 6 in Testy CNN Interview
Prospective vice presidential nominees have gone to stunning lengths to try and win over former President Donald Trump. And on Sunday, a prominent contender sought to separate herself from the pack.
In a CNN interview on Sunday with Dana Bash, Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) vowed to support Trump even if he is convicted in his New York criminal trial, and even went after former Vice President Mike Pence — accusing him of having “failed” Trump since Jan. 6, 2021.
Bash, in one testy exchange, jumped in after Noem claimed “the Democrats and the activists are using this trial to derail [Trump], to keep him in court, instead of out talking to Americans.”
“I just want to say, for the record, there’s absolutely no evidence that President [Joe] Biden is involved in this,” Bash said. “This is a case … being brought, in the state of New York by the Manhattan D.A.”
Noem interjected — seizing on a chance to bring up Hunter Biden.
“That’s what I think is remarkable,” Noem said. “That if you look at President Biden and what he’s done and what his son has done, and the fact that they’re not being prosecuted—”
“That has nothing to do with this,” Bash said, cutting Noem off.
After grilling the South Dakota governor for several minutes about the former president’s trial, Bash asked Noem if her support for Trump is riding on the case’s outcome.
“Big picture, governor, if Donald Trump is convicted in this trial, will you still support him in November?” Bash asked.
“If my choice is between Joe Biden and Donald Trump every single day of the week, yes, I will support Donald Trump,” Noem replied. “I have, from the very beginning. He has been someone that I have supported since 2016.”
Noem went on — in head-scratching fashion — to portray Trump as a humble everyman.
“I recognized that he didn’t think he was better than anybody else in this country,” Noem said. “He wanted to go run for this office so he could serve the people here and fight for them every single day.”
Trump, of course, during his 2016 acceptance speech at the RNC convention, famously declared that he was the only person capable of “fixing” the United States “political system.”
“Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it,” Trump said.
In the waning moments of the interview, Noem took a shot at Pence for heavily criticizing Trump over the past several years.
“I think that he’s failed Donald Trump since [Jan. 6],” Noem said. “Because he certainly does not recognize that we need someone in the white House who needs him out on the trail advocating for him, instead of constantly criticizing and going back and ripping him apart.”
Watch above via CNN.
