Self-confessed dog killer Kristi Noem has launched into a tantrum after her brag about killing another animal backfired.
The former Homeland Security Secretary posted on Instagram on Monday following her “super fun hunt.” In the picture, the South Dakota native poses happily alongside a slain and bloodied elk she had killed with a crossbow.
Many people in the comments were appalled. “I’m a Conservative Republican however, I don’t condone this unnecessary killing. Let these animals roam freely & live out their lives free from violence,” one person wrote.
Another added, “I’m a conservative and this saddens me deeply! Killing an animal for sport is wrong. I doubt her family needed the meat. Our ancestors hunted for survival…two vastly different things.”
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES BELOW
Some people supported Noem, 54, but the dissent was vast enough that she felt the need to address it in a comment.
Anyone who disagreed with hunting was labeled “ignorant and uninformed.”
Noem, who recounted in her memoir a disturbing account of taking her young dog Cricket to a pit in her yard and shooting it dead because it was “untrainable,” wrote: “For those of you who choose to be ignorant and uninformed and critical, of course this beautiful animal will nourish our family and many others we will share with. These majestic animals are incredible and I’ve so loved learning their ways from my father, sharing memories in the mountains with him and my brothers and now my friends.”
She then appeared to suggest she had a God-given right to kill animals. “Shame on you who desecrate and don’t understand the stewardship responsibilities God has given us. Go to a store and shop for anything that hasn’t been harvested and you will find bare shelves and your family will starve,” she wrote.
Noem left the Department of Homeland Security under a cloud after losing the president’s trust and being dogged by persistent rumors of an affair with her aide, Corey Lewandowski. She now serves as a special envoy to the Shield of the Americas, a multinational security coalition focused on cooperation across the Western Hemisphere.
In June, British Columbia-based mineral exploration company NovaRed Mining Inc. announced that she had joined the firm as a strategic adviser. In a press release, the company said she would help identify mining opportunities using artificial intelligence.
Her boast landed awkwardly with her Instagram followers. “Finally had a little time to post a few pictures of my archery elk,” she wrote in a caption under a carousel of images.
“Super fun hunt with Patrick, Randy, Jason, and Taylor. The strategy and work paid off and I’m so grateful for their help and friendship,” she continued.
At some point, comments on her post were limited.
Noem lists hunting as the top priority in her Instagram biography.
“Hunting and Horses, Government and Grankids, Fishing and FREEDOM! God bless America!” it reads.
