CPAC speaker Kristi Noem: What to know about the Governor of South Dakota
Noem has been floated as a potential 2024 presidential candidate
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who has gained a national profile due to her refusal to order an economic shutdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, spoke at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday in Orlando, Fla.
Noem started her career in the South Dakota state legislature before being elected as South Dakota’s only member of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2011.
She served as the U.S. congresswoman from South Dakota until 2019, when she became the first female Governor of the state.
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Noem has aligned herself closely with former President Donald Trump and was a top surrogate for his 2020 reelection campaign.
FILE - In this Jan. 8, 2019 file photo, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem gives her first State of the State address in Pierre, S.D. While many other governor’s have broken from President Donald Trump on stay-at-home orders to curb the spread of coronavirus or when to restart economic activity, Noem has tracked close to the president. (AP Photo/James Nord, File)
After the election, Noem supported Trump's unfounded challenges of the results and continued to cast doubts on the election even after President Joe Biden was sworn into office, though she did attend his inauguration.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I think that we deserve fair and transparent elections," she said on Jan. 28. "I think there’s a lot of people who have doubts about that."
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After the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, Noem wrote in an op-ed for The Federalist that the events were "unacceptable," but did not blame Trump for the actions of the rioters.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She also criticized the GOP and laid out her vision for the future of the party.
"Republicans have had chances to deliver for the American people. But we haven’t followed through," she wrote in The Federalist two days after the riot.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The Republican Party exists to fight for America, and for every American," she continued. "The challenge before us is to continue to be the one nation in the history of the world where any person, regardless of their standing at birth, can make anything of themselves."
Noem has been floated by some pundits as a potential presidential candidate in 2024, but she has consistently denied any interest in running.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Associated Press contributed to this report.