As news of a South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem’s secret affair with Corey Lewandowski came to light, questions have swirled about the state’s First Gentleman.
Bryon Noem, who says ‘marrying Kristi was the best decision he ever made’ has stayed silent amid the explosive revelations.
Bryon has often loomed in the shadows as Noem ascended through politics – eventually taking the helm of South Dakota as their 33rd governor in 2018 when she promised to uphold the wholesome family values the state has ‘long embraced.’
According to the governor’s website, Bryon grew up on a farm near Bryant where he says his love of small towns began.
The 33rd First Gentleman is an American businessman, rancher and insurer but is best known for his role as Noem’s second half.
As news of a South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem’s secret affair with Corey Lewandowski came to light, questions have swirled about the state’s First Gentleman Bryon Noem (left)
Married South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, 51, and ex-Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski (pictured in Ohio in 2020) have been engaging in a years-long romance, despite both being married, DailyMail.com revealed
It remains unclear whether Bryon was aware of the affair, which neither Noem or Lewandowski denied when asked by DailyMail.com and he’s yet to break his silence since the news catapulted onto the national stage.
Graduating from Northern State University with a degree in business and finance Bryon worked on the family farm, coached basketball and eventually moved into the world of insurance.
He met Noem in high school when she had aspirations of becoming a farmer and rancher.
Together the pair operated a farm and ranch, opened an ice cream store helped manage a family restaurant, and pursued numerous other business ventures together.
While photographs of the couple show them beaming as they embrace and in front of the cameras, at least, showing a united front.
The pair had three children which they describe as their ‘greatest accomplishment’ – Kassidy, Kennedy, and Booker.
As the glamorous Noem takes center stage most recently endorsing Trump at a party fundraiser in Rapid City Bryon continues to operate an insurance agency in Bryant and Watertown and coaches basketball.
His focus as First Gentleman of South Dakota has always been to keep small towns thriving given his personal history.
‘I am proud to be from rural South Dakota. It’s where I learned the values of hard work and self-reliance, where Kristi and I chose to raise our kids, where we started an insurance business and hunting lodge, and where my family has farmed and ranched for a century,’ he explained on his bio.
Lewandowski deplaned in Rapid City last Friday as part of Donald Trump’s entourage. Noem was first in line to greet the former president’s party
They were careful to have no public interaction. The two had been made aware of a pending story about their relationship
DailyMail.com photos show Lewandowski on the tarmac in South Dakota, walking straight past Noem without either acknowledging the other
The interaction was a stark contrast to that in July 2020 – at the height of the pandemic – Lewandowski was seen flouting social distancing rules to greet Noem with a kiss on the cheek after arriving at an event at Mount Rushmore with then-President Donald Trump
‘But many small towns like ours are struggling today. Class sizes are dropping. Businesses can’t afford to stay open. And fewer kids are coming home to farm or ranch.
‘While South Dakota has grown by more than 100,000 people since 2000, rural populations have decreased.
He added that seeing the larger communities flourish is ‘exciting’ but didn’t want to ‘lose South Dakota’s rural culture.’
‘I want to remind people that these are some of the best places to raise a family or start a business,’ he said.
‘ I want to show that our way of life here is worth celebrating and promoting. I want to listen to peoples’ stories and learn from their experiences, then share them with others.’
DailyMail.com has contacted Bryon for comment but he did not immediately respond.
News of the affair between Married Noem and Lewandowski who is also married broke on Friday.
The clandestine relationship could threaten to wreck Noem’s chances of joining Trump’s ticket in a potential rematch with President Joe Biden.
Neither denied the affair when asked by DailyMail.com. The Governor issued a statement attacking us for the timing of the article, while Lewandowski did not respond to a request for comment.
The two met up on Friday last week when Lewandowski traveled with Trump to Rapid City, South Dakota, for a campaign rally.
Kirsti Noem (third from right) poses alongside her husband Bryon (right) and the rest of her family near the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre
Noem has been married to her husband, Bryon since 1992. Lewandowski, meanwhile, has been married to 9/11 widow Alison, since 2005, and has four children with her
Noem has been considered a rising Republican star tipped by many to be Donald Trump ‘s running mate should he win the presidential nomination
But the pair – who were made aware of a pending story about their relationship – were careful to have no public interaction in contrast to previous occasions, as DailyMail.com’s exclusive photos show.
Glamorous Noem – who served four terms as her state’s only member of the US House of Representatives – won the governorship in 2018 promising to uphold the wholesome family values that she said South Dakotans have ‘long embraced’.
Defending ‘traditional marriage,’ which she defined as ‘a special, God-given union between one man and one woman’, was particularly important to her.
It was the foundation for her beliefs, policy priorities and the ideals she lives by, said Noem, who has a son and two daughters with her husband Bryon who she married in 1992.
She has long been linked with Lewandowski, 49, who has been pushing hard for Trump to add her to his ticket.
The far-right website American Greatness claimed in 2021 the two had been romantically involved, although it gave no details.
At the time she scornfully dismissed the story as ‘total garbage and a disgusting lie’, and said she loved her husband and was ‘proud of the God-fearing family’ they had raised, and the story quickly died.
But a DailyMail.com investigation has uncovered extensive evidence of the couple’s romantic relationship: Dozens of trips that mixed business with pleasure, flights on donors’ private planes, and stays at luxury resorts where their intimacy was observed and noted.
Lewandowski, who married 9/11 widow Alison Hardy in 2005 and has four children, did not respond to requests for comment.
He allegedly had an affair with campaign press secretary Hope Hicks, and in the run-up to the 2016 election he was arrested for manhandling Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields at a press conference in Florida. Charges were later dropped.
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