Key GOP senator says Noem’s dog shooting story could hurt her with voters if Trump picks her as running mate

South Dakota GOP Sen. Mike Rounds said Gov. Kristi Noem’s revelation in her book that she shot a dog on her family farm could hurt her with voters if former President Donald Trump chooses her as his running mate.

South Dakota GOP Sen. Mike Rounds said Gov. Kristi Noem’s revelation in her book that she shot a dog on her family farm could hurt her with voters if former President Donald Trump chooses her as his running mate. “I don’t see how it helps,” Rounds said. “I’ve had dogs,” he said. “I just think that when a family decides to put down dogs, it’s a very personal and private decision to be made. Not something to be made lightly. It should be very personal and private.” Noem, a South Dakota Republican, did not keep it private, detailing the shooting of the 14-month-old dog in her book as she described the gritty life she navigates in rural America. According to an excerpt, which was obtained by the Guardian, Noem killed her dog Cricket because the dog was “untrainable,” “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with” and “less than worthless … as a hunting dog.” “I hated that dog,” Noem writes, according to the Guardian.