"Commander, Say Hello To Cricket": VP-Hopeful Kristi Noem Suggested Joe Biden's Dog Should Meet A Similar Fate As Her Own

Woof. It seems poor Cricket isn’t the only dog Gov. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) has had in her sights.

During a heated interview on “Face the Nation” Sunday, Noem suggested that President Joe Biden’s notoriously nip-happy German shepherd, Commander, should have met the same fate as her late wirehaired pointer, which she wrote about killing in her forthcoming book, No Going Back.

Host Margaret Brennan asked Noem if she was trying to “look tough” with her talk of culling canines and highlighted a menacing reference the South Dakota governor makes to Commander near the end of her memoir.

Commander was moved from the White House last fall after repeated incidents with Secret Service agents; in February, internal documents showed the dog was involved in at least 24 incidents between October 2022 and July 2023.

“You say the very first thing you would do if you got to the White House that was different from Joe Biden, is you’d make sure Joe Biden’s dog was nowhere on the grounds. ‘Commander say hello to Cricket.’ Are you doing this to try to look tough?” Brennan asked. “Do you still think that you have a shot at being a VP?”

CBS / Via Twitter: @Acyn

Noem turned the question back on Brennan, saying, “Joe Biden’s dog has attacked 24 Secret Service people. So how many people is enough people to be attacked and dangerously hurt before you make a decision on a dog?”

After Brennan reminded the governor that the dog no longer lives at the White House, Noem insisted that “the President should be held accountable” for the German Shepherd’s actions.

“You’re saying he should be shot?” Brennan asked.

Sidestepping the question, Noem tried to compare her decision to put down her dog to making tough choices to protect her home state.

“I would say about Republicans criticizing me, these are the same Republicans who have criticized me during COVID,” she said. “They’ve criticized me when I’ve made other decisions in South Dakota to protect my state.”

In No Going Back, Noem wrote about shooting her “less than worthless” hunting dog, Cricket, explaining how she “hated” the 14-month-old pup.

She also alluded to Commander in the section, writing, “A dog who bites is dangerous and unpredictable (are you listening, Joe Biden?) — especially if you are running a business where people interact with your dogs.”

Elsewhere in her interview with Brennan, Noem refused to deny an anecdote in No Going Back, due out May 7, that she met Kim Jong Un when she was a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

“As soon as this was brought to my attention, I certainly made some changes and looked at this passage,” the governor told Brennan, adding, “I’ve met with many, many world leaders. I’ve traveled around the world.”This article originally appeared on HuffPost.