‘I Didn’t Eat My Dog’: Mitt Romney Insists His Own Pet Scandal Was Different From Kristi Noem’s

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Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) insisted on Tuesday that his own pet scandal was different from the current controversy surrounding Gov. Kristi Noem’s decision to shoot and kill her puppy.

Romney’s political career has been repeatedly haunted by a 1983 incident where he drove for 12 hours with his dog on top of the car, which resulted in the animal suffering from diarrhea.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Romney insisted that his own previous incident was nothing like Noem’s decision to kill her 14-month-old puppy Cricket after it killed several chickens and proved “less than worthless” as a trained hunting dog.

“I didn’t eat my dog. I didn’t shoot my dog. I loved my dog and my dog loved me,” said Romney, according to multiple sources. “I cannot imagine circumstances that would lead one to take one’s dog to a gravel pit, particularly an 11 month old & shoot it.”

He added, “Other people may have a different point of view.”

Noem shocked Democrats and Republicans alike last week after she confessed in an upcoming book to killing both her puppy and a “disgusting, musky, rancid” goat.

“I hated that dog,” wrote Noem.

The confession sparked immediate backlash, with several Fox News analysts predicting that the moment would mark the end of Noem’s political career, as well as her chances to become former President Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate.

However, Noem doubled down on her decision to kill the puppy on Sunday, insisting that the killing was protected by South Dakota state law.

Noem is not known to have eaten her dog and it is likely that that part of Romney’s remark was a reference to former President Barack Obama eating dog meat as a child.