By Joshua Haiar and Seth Tupper, South Dakota Searchlight
July 15, 2024
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem used her Monday evening speech at the Republican National Convention to praise former President Donald Trump’s devotion to the Constitution, without mentioning that he’s criminally accused of subverting it.
“I’ve been governor under both President Trump and Joe Biden, and people ask me all the time, ‘What’s the biggest difference?’” Noem said from the stage in Milwaukee. “And I tell them that President Trump honored the Constitution.”
A pending federal indictment against Trump filed in August 2023 alleges he knowingly spread falsehoods to his supporters, unsuccessfully plotted with co-conspirators to overturn his loss in the 2020 election, and worked his supporters into a frenzy that culminated in a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the day Congress was to certify electoral votes.
The indictment alleges Trump interfered with American citizens who were engaging “in the free exercise and enjoyment of a right and privilege secured to them by the Constitution and laws of the United States — that is, the right to vote, and to have one’s vote counted.”
Noem said Trump has been “unjustly prosecuted” but did not say which case she was referencing.
In May, Trump was convicted of 34 felonies in New York state court for falsifying business records related to a hush money payment ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump’s sentencing has been delayed until September while the court reviews a U.S. Supreme Court immunity decision.
Trump has also been indicted in Georgia on racketeering charges — though the case is bogged down in personnel matters — and has been ordered to pay hundreds of millions in penalties following multiple civil suits.
On Monday, a federal classified documents case against Trump was dismissed by a Florida judge because the Department of Justice unlawfully appointed special counsel Jack Smith.
Noem spent much of the rest of her speech touting South Dakota’s economy, including its comparative lack of economic restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We also have the highest birth rate in the nation,” Noem said. “People are having babies because they’re happy. And in South Dakota, we love babies.”
Noem pointed to South Dakota’s economic growth and low unemployment as evidence of the success of her administration’s policies.
“South Dakota’s strong economy has been a beacon of freedom for America,” she said.
One of her policies is a workforce recruitment advertising campaign starring herself, which she described as the most successful such campaign in the history of South Dakota.
Shortly after the speech, South Dakota Democratic Party Executive Director Dan Ahlers said many of those economic achievements are owed to the Biden administration.
“She talked about building roads and all these things, but that’s funding from Biden and Congress,” he said.
Noem was considered a potential running mate for Trump until late April, when she released her book, “No Going Back.” She was widely criticized for a story she related in the book about fatally shooting a dog and a goat, and for including a claim that she later retracted about meeting North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Trump was formally nominated for president Monday at the convention and announced that his running mate will be U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio. Trump appeared at the convention but did not speak Monday, just two days after he was injured during a failed assassination attempt against him at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
— States Newsroom’s D.C. Bureau contributed to this report.
Joshua Haiar is a reporter based in Sioux Falls. Born and raised in Mitchell, he joined the Navy as a public affairs specialist after high school and then earned a degree from the University of South Dakota. Prior to joining South Dakota Searchlight, Joshua worked for five years as a multimedia specialist and journalist with South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
Seth Tupper is editor-in-chief of South Dakota Searchlight. He was previously a supervising senior producer for South Dakota Public Broadcasting and a newspaper journalist in Rapid City and Mitchell.
South Dakota Searchlight launched in 2022. We’re an affiliate of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, supported by grants and donations. The staff of the Searchlight retains full editorial independence. We use our journalistic searchlight to illuminate critical issues facing South Dakota, dissect the decisions made by state leaders, and explain the consequences of their policies and the role of politics in the lives of South Dakotans.
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