South Dakota puppy killer Gov. Kristi Noem took time away from defending her state’s abortion ban to speak at the Republican National Convention Monday night. She came out to a tepid response from the audience.
She then reminded the crowd that her big claim to fame—before becoming the 21t century’s Cruella de Vil—was how poorly she managed the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Most of you probably first heard about me during Covid,” Noem said, “because South Dakota was the only state in the country that stayed open for business. We didn't mandate anything. We never ordered a single business or a church to close.”
In fact, she bragged, “I never even defined what an essential business was, because I don't believe that the government has the authority to tell you that your business isn't essential.”
Maybe that’s why Noem, like other conservative-run states, saw the largest spikes in COVID infections during the first months of the pandemic? Maybe that’s why this might be the only time we hear about the COVID-19 pandemic during this convention?
“When other states were pushing mandates and lockdowns, instead, in South Dakota, we hit the gas. We embraced liberty. We told our story, and we invited people to come and to enjoy our beautiful state,” Noem continued.
She’s telling the truth here. It was allowing superspreader events like the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally that led to South Dakota’s horrific COVID rates.
“Now, all of the things that conservatives have always talked about, we just did it,” Noem concluded to a similarly lukewarm spattering of applause. “And it works.”
It’s didn’t work.
