As South Dakota’s first female governor, Kristi Noem has made history before. Some say she’s being groomed to be the first female president. As governor, Noem has made herself a household name.
“My guess is that a year ago most of you had no idea who I was, but unlike the D.C. media, I’m sure you know that there are two Dakotas and I’m the governor of the warmer one,” Noem said to the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) conference crowd in Florida in March 2021.
Noem’s notoriety came first as a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump. Following the election, Noem tweeted about rigged elections, and then reiterated that false claim during an interview with ABC News.
“Why is everybody so scared just to have a fair election and find out,” she asked.
Noem also gained national attention as one of the leading voices against Covid-19 mandates.
“South Dakota is the only state in America that never ordered a single business or church to close,” she said at CPAC. “South Dakota never instituted shelter in place. Never mandated people wear masks.”
That pattern has continued with vaccines. Noem has banned vaccine mandates for state and local governments. She also said local governments can’t issue vaccine mandates for private businesses.
“I’d encourage every South Dakotan to choose to get vaccinated, if you want to,” Noem wrote on Twitter. “But that’s your choice, and it should be your choice. Government shouldn’t be mandating it to you.”
These moves have some, like Joy Behar from ABC’s The View, saying Noem could be a likely candidate for president in 2024.
“She seems to be the new Sarah Palin,” Behar said. “You know she gave Trump a miniature Mount Rushmore with his face on it, so we know where she’s coming from as far as Trump is concerned. I mean no greater love hath this woman.”
It isn’t just pundits. The betting website PredictIt has Noem as one of six Republican frontrunners to run for president in 2024.
In January, Noem said she isn’t interested in running for president in 2024, but she has been spotted in both Iowa and New Hampshire. Those are places presidential hopefuls usually visit before declaring their candidacy.