Gov. Noem’s new campaign ad is gaslighting at its finest

Rapid City Journal ^ | 01/15/22 | Caroline Woods

[Behind Liberal Lines]

A new Gov. Noem campaign ad emerged Wednesday claiming she heroically stands for fairness in women’s sports. The ad falsely claims that she “never backed down” from protecting women’s sports here in South Dakota. As proof, it alluded to her ensuring boys and girls competed separately in 4-H rodeo.

This ad is incredibly disingenuous at best and gaslighting at worst. Let’s unpack these fabricated claims that the Governor desperately wishes were true.

First, let’s start with last year’s women’s sports bill that promoted fairness in women's sports. The South Dakota legislature put this strong bill on Gov. Noem’s desk prohibiting biological males from competing in women’s sports. It protected girls in K12 sports and college. She tweeted that she was “excited” to sign the bill. Well, she quickly changed her mind. She reversed course after getting woke pressure from people including Matt McCaulley, who double-dips as a Sandford Health lobbyist and a paid advisor to Gov. Noem, and D.C. elitist, Corey Lewandowski

After going back on her word, she took major heat from conservatives at the national and local levels. Trying to recover from her unforced error with her base, Gov. Noem then offered a “Style and Form Veto” to the legislature. This process allows a Governor to correct typographical errors like a mistaken code reference or a misplaced comma. Instead, her “style” revisions gutted protections for female college athletes to mollify corporate interests. The South Dakota legislature rejected her watered-down bill. It also gave her a civics lesson in the principle of checks and balances and "style and form" vetoes: executives don't make laws, legislatures do.

Second, that her ad claimed that she’s been defending girls’ sports for years – referring to 4-H rodeo – is incredibly misleading. Let’s clear this up. There was a 40-year-old controversy regarding an interpretation of Title IX by United State Department of Agriculture (USDA). Title IX “prohibits discrimination based on sex.”

Basically, bureaucrats in Washington attempted to make 4-H rodeo co-ed. Most South Dakotans know that most 4-H events are co-ed, like showing cattle, sheep and more. However, rodeo is split between boys and girls (only New Mexico and South Dakota even have 4-H rodeo). In 2017, Gov. Noem did reject this administrative interpretation. But note, there were no transgender activists involved, no corporate pressure. In 2017, she helped resolve an obscure bureaucratic disagreement over 4-H, hardly the courageous stand her new ad would have us believe. The ad is a half-cooked attempt to distract from her caving to corporate pressure in 2021.

Third, Gov. Noem’s ad claims that her new bill, which is similar to the one she essentially vetoed, is the “strongest law in the nation.” Well, this isn’t true either. It is a good bill, and I’m glad she’s bringing it. Women deserve protection from biological males stealing their titles and scholarships. But governors in states like Arkansas and Florida signed bills with much stronger legal options for harmed female athletes. So, let’s not kid ourselves. To top it off, the largest conservative law firm in the world, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), assisted with the bill language of last year’s women’s sports bill. One of the most well-respected legal organizations in the world would not be so careless as to support a bill that had such “economic, legal, and reputational threats” as Gov. Noem asserted.

My dad told me growing up that “you’re only as good as your word.” Well, Gov. Noem is only as good as hers.

[Candor7]

You are wrong about Christy Noem:

Gov. Kristi Noem’s Speech at Mount Rushmore 7-3-2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZCA77v7ux8

She could easily be president one day.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

I remember W giving some good speeches too.

[Candor7]

Noem has donedid work and she would be far better than RINO GW who still can’t get over the 2016 election of PDJT .

[MayflowerMadam]

She might be running scared if she’s listened to Kari Lake recently. It could have occurred to her that some other female pol — potential governor — is upstaging her “bigly” so she must do some fast talking.