Politics
Opinion: How many ways can a political memoir backfire? Ask Kristi Noem.
Not to beat a dead, ah, horse, but how can we ignore the spectacle that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has made of herself during her publicity tour for her just-published memoir, “No Going Back?”
Over the weekend, she sparred with Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation,” when Brennan asked her to reflect on the wisdom of including anecdotes about killing her dog and goat, and some other egregious stories in the book.
Opinion Columnist
Robin Abcarian
Rather than answer simple questions about her judgment and memory, Noem proved to be a master of the kind of nonsensical pivoting segue that plagues politicians’ — especially Republican politicians’ — interviews these days. Allow me to paraphrase, but only barely:
Q: Do you regret writing about killing your dog Cricket?
A: Why is Joe Biden’s Secret Service agent-eating dog Commander still alive?
Q: Why’d you lie about meeting Kim Jong Un?
A: None of your beeswax!
But the receipts, as they say, are there.
Or at least they were. In the embargoed copy of her memoir that the Guardian obtained, Noem was quoted as having written, “I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all).”
There is so much wrong with that passage, and not even because it never happened.
Pretending that a global villain like Kim would give a second thought to an obscure American congresswoman is narcissism at its most delusional. But to throw her own pastoral ducklings under the bus by comparing them to a murderous dictator? That’s harsh. (Not puppy-killing harsh, but still.)
Noem was in Congress from 2011 to 2019. As South Dakota’s only representative in the House and a member of the Armed Services Committee, Noem of course traveled widely and came into contact with many world leaders. She writes about meeting, or being present at events with, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, England’s Boris Johnson and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni. She approvingly cites the reelection of Hungarian strongman Viktor Orban.
On Tuesday, when “No Going Back” became officially available, I downloaded it on my Kindle. Noem’s face-to-face Kim Jong Un fantasy was nowhere to be found.
That Kim anecdote, however, is not the only one Noem has been accused of making up.
Other challenged tales include her assertion that she canceled a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in 2023 after he said something she considered to be anti-Israel and pro-Hamas, and her report of what she called a “threatening” phone call during the pandemic from former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, then contemplating a run for president.
Macron’s office told the Associated Press that Noem had never been invited to meet him, although, it conceded, it was possible they’d been scheduled to attend the same event in Paris.
As for the call with Haley, writes Noem: “It was clear she wanted me to know that there was only room for one Republican woman in the spotlight. It was weird.”
Haley’s representative disputed Noem’s account, telling Politico that Haley, a former governor herself, had called Noem to offer support during the pandemic. “How she would twist that into a threat,” said Haley spokesman Chaney Denton, “is just plain weird.”
Sunday, Noem doubled down. “That story is absolutely true,” she told the hosts of “CBS Mornings.” “She’s a typical politician who says whatever she needs to on any given day to benefit herself.”
In a book full of puffed-up stories about her immense if imaginary courage, think of the real courage it would have taken to just suck it up and say, “I am sorry. I guess I got a little carried away.”
Instead, her spokesman, Ian Fury, essentially blamed Noem’s ghostwriter for the made-up incident with North Korea’s supreme leader. “Kim Jong Un was included in a list of world leaders and shouldn’t have been,” Fury told the Dakota Scout. “This has been communicated to the ghostwriter and editor.”
That non-responsive excuse is right up there with the classic obfuscation “mistakes were made.” Ironically, in her memoir’s acknowledgments, Noem writes, “Shout out to Ian for keeping me honest.” Heckuva job, Ian!
Instead of admitting she screwed up, as one wag put it on social media, Noem scapeghosted.
So who is the ghostwriter?
From the memoir acknowledgments, it appears that he is Mike Loomis, whom Noem describes as “a crazy guy” who “even scolded me once for not being prepared on having material written!” (Snark alert: You can see from that phrase why she needed writing assistance.)
Loomis is an experienced hand who has ghostwritten at least a dozen memoirs, including one by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. I reached out to him via his website but have not received a reply. Poor guy is probably being inundated by requests for comments.
On Monday, the day after her disastrous “Face the Nation” appearance, Noem was grilled by Elizabeth Vargas on the NewsNation network. Fortunately for Noem, her story about Cricket is no longer the big news. Unfortunately for Noem, interest now centers on whether she lied about staring down Kim Jong Un.
“When this was pointed out, we made an adjustment,” she told Vargas. “That name should not be in the book and I am not going to discuss those personal meetings.”
“But clearly if you’ve taken it out of the book, it’s because it’s untrue,” said Vargas.
“I’ve given you my answer,” said Noem, “and no, that’s not the answer.”
“You recorded the audio book, you read this whole book out loud, why didn’t you take it out then?” Vargas pressed.
“Did you want to talk about something else today?” Noem asked.
“We’re just trying to get a straight answer,” Vargas replied.
“You did,” said Noem, “and I mean, I took responsibility for it. The buck stops with me.”
President Truman would be spinning in his grave.
Politics
Trump celebrates after UN climate committee moves away from its most extreme global warming scenario
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President Donald Trump on Saturday blasted Democratic climate policies after scientists moved away from one of the most extreme global warming scenarios previously used in United Nations-backed climate modeling.
“GOOD RIDDANCE! After 15 years of Dumocrats promising that ‘Climate Change’ is going to destroy the Planet, the United Nations TOP Climate Committee just admitted that its own projections (RCP8.5) were WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump accused Democrats of using climate fears to justify energy policies and government spending.
“For far too long Climate Activism has been used by Dumocrats to scare Americans, push horrible Energy Polices, and fund BILLIONS into their bogus research programs,” he continued. “Unlike the Dumocrats, who use Climate Alarmism nonsense to push their GREEN NEW SCAM, my Administration will always be based on TRUTH, SCIENCE, and FACT!”
DAVID MARCUS: NEW YORK TIMES ANNOUNCES THE END OF THE CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX
President Donald Trump spoke to the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on April 16, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Trump’s comments came after climate scientists moved away from using the most extreme emissions scenario developed under the United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The IPCC’s worst-case scenarios, which included significant global temperature increases and sea level rises, included global crop failures and even potential extinction events on the scale of the dinosaurs.
The scenario, known as RCP8.5 and later SSP5-8.5, projected severe global warming outcomes under extremely high emissions assumptions.
CONSERVATIVE GROUPS DECLARE 2025 A TIPPING POINT ON ‘CLIMATE HYSTERIA’ AS TRUMP UNLEASHES ENERGY AGENDA
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin speaks alongside President Donald Trump in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on Feb. 12, 2026, announcing the rollback of the 2009 Endangerment Finding on climate-warming emissions. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
According to GB News, the scenario is being phased out after researchers concluded it no longer reflects the most plausible trajectory based on renewable energy growth, emissions trends and climate policies.
Researchers writing in the journal Geoscientific Model Development said future climate scenarios should continue to cover a wide range of outcomes, from severe warming to lower-emissions futures.
“For the 21st century, this range will be smaller than assessed before: on the high-end of the range, the high emission levels (quantified by SSP5-8.5) have become implausible, based on trends in the costs of renewables, the emergence of climate policy and recent emission trends.”
TRUMP OFFICIALS URGED TO BOYCOTT UN CLIMATE SUMMIT AS TRUMP SEETHES CLIMATE CHANGE IS A ‘CON JOB’
Trump’s post follows remarks he made last September at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, where he called climate change a “con job.”
“It’s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion,” Trump said at the time. “All of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong.”
“They were made by stupid people that have cost their country’s fortunes and given those same countries no chance for success,” he continued.
EPA CHIEF ZELDIN DELIVERS DAGGER TO THE HEART OF OBAMA’S CLIMATE CHANGE AGENDA ON ‘RUTHLESS’ PODCAST
President Donald Trump speaks during the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 23, 2025. Environmental and energy groups called on the Trump administration to boycott the U.N. Climate Conference in November, according to a letter obtained by Fox Digital. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)
Trump’s comments drew criticism from Democrats, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who called the remarks “total disinformation.”
“You know yesterday at the U.N., President Trump said, ‘Climate change is a hoax,’ because it’s just total disinformation,” Clinton said during the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. “It’s a statement that is just not true, and yet being propagated.”
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin later defended Trump’s climate remarks in an interview with Fox News.
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President Donald Trump speaks during the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on Sept. 23, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“The president is absolutely right and we’ve seen it in the name of climate change, these left wing policies willing to cause extreme economic pain for people who can at least afford it,” he said.
Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
Lake Balboa resident Jose Meraz is looking for a mayor who will turn L.A. around, cleaning up streets that he says are “filled with garbage.”
Schoolteacher Tracey Schroeder, a Republican candidate for state Assembly, is unhappy about crime, open-air drug use and the slow rebuilding effort in the wake of the Palisades fire, which destroyed thousands of homes.
Greg Whitley, a resident of Reseda, said he’s frustrated with homelessness and the influx of what he called “criminal illegal aliens.”
“I live with the Spanish community. Great people,” he said. “But these illegals that come here for criminal reasons, they’re making them look bad, and they don’t like it.”
All three showed up outside a five-bedroom home in Sherman Oaks on Saturday, looking to speak with reality TV personality Spencer Pratt, now waging an insurgent campaign for Los Angeles mayor in the June 2 election.
Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, left, poses with a supporter during a community meet-and-greet event Saturday at a home on Longridge Avenue in a residential neighborhood of Sherman Oaks.
(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)
Standing in the entry to the home’s two-car garage, the onetime star of “The Hills” spent more than two hours shaking hands, giving hugs and posing for photos with his admirers, who waited in line under punishing San Fernando Valley sunshine.
Pratt used social media to invite the public to the campaign event, which took place in the district represented by one of his mayoral opponents, City Councilmember Nithya Raman.
He did not deliver any speeches outside the property, which is listed for rent on Zillow for $15,950 per month. He and a member of his security personnel said he was not taking interviews.
Pratt has been running in voter surveys behind Mayor Karen Bass, who is running for reelection, sometimes swapping places with Raman for second and third. He turned in a strong debate performance this month and has been outpacing his rivals in fundraising, according to the most recent disclosure reports.
While running for office, Pratt has blamed Bass for the 2025 wildfire that destroyed much of Pacific Palisades, including his home. He has railed against the city’s handling of homelessness, saying he would pursue a “treatment first” approach toward people with drug addiction who are living on the street.
Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, back to the camera, speaks with supporters Saturday during a community meet-and-greet event.
(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)
Pratt said recently that he wants to increase Los Angeles Police Department staffing to 12,500 officers over the next decade, up from about 8,600. Speaking with one supporter on Saturday, he said the city needs to “make sure all the laws are being enforced.”
“Plenty of functioning cities enforce their laws,” he said.
That message resonated with many of the people in line.
“He is advocating for the safety and security of our families — specifically, for mothers to be able to walk their kids to school,” said Saba Lahar, a resident of Sherman Oaks, moments after talking to the candidate.
Pratt fans dropped off ballots, picked up lawn signs and stopped to pick up coffee drinks from the Hustle N Dough doughnut truck parked out front.
Some showed up even though they cannot cast ballots in L.A.
Ruben Jr., no last name given takes a picture of his father during mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt’s community meet-and-greet Saturday in Sherman Oaks.
(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)
Brian Rodda, who runs a walking food tour company, described himself as “an unsatisfied Angeleno” even though he lives in West Hollywood, which is not part of the city of L.A.
“Sadly, because I do live in West Hollywood, I cannot vote for him,” he said. “But I certainly think we need a change.”
Politics
ActBlue CEO faces June 10 grilling after fundraising powerhouse allegedly misled Congress on foreign donations
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FIRST ON FOX: The embattled head of a Democratic fundraising behemoth is headed for a congressional grilling next month over allegations of fraudulent donations on its platform.
ActBlue’s CEO Regina Wallace-Jones will testify in a public hearing before the House Administration Committee on June 10, a committee spokesman told Fox News Digital.
Wallace-Jones’ agreement to testify comes as ActBlue faces mounting scrutiny over whether it misled Congress regarding foreign donations on its payment processing platform.
“Ms. Wallace-Jones allegedly misled our committee at the outset of our investigation into ActBlue’s fraud prevention standards,” House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., said in a statement. “It’s past time we set the record straight and got answers for the American people. I look forward to hearing her testify.”
House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., holds a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 10, 2025. (Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)
DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT ACTBLUE ROCKED BY ALLEGATIONS IT MISLED CONGRESS ABOUT FOREIGN DONATIONS
The statement referenced an explosive report in The New York Times earlier this year that said ActBlue’s then-outside counsel warned Wallace-Jones in 2023 the group may have misrepresented facts to Steil’s committee about its vetting of potentially illegal foreign donations.
Under U.S. law, foreign nationals who are not lawful permanent residents are generally prohibited from donating to candidates seeking federal office or political action committees.
Steil previously requested that Wallace-Jones testify before his committee on May 19. The invitation was met with outrage from ActBlue’s lawyers, who dismissed the committee action as a “partisan attack.”
But Republicans have pointed to documents that ActBlue has allegedly withheld in response to subpoenas issued in 2025, which Steil has characterized as “deliberately incomplete.”
All five current or former ActBlue employees who appeared in depositions with the committee invoked their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination a combined 146 times, according to an interim staff report released in April by House Republicans.
ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones, a delegate from California, wears a U.S.-flag themed outfit ahead of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, Ill., on Aug. 19, 2024.
TEXAS AG PAXTON SUES DEM FUNDRAISING PLATFORM ACTBLUE, ALLEGING ‘FRAUDULENT AND FOREIGN DONATIONS’
The House Administration Committee has been probing ActBlue’s fraud prevention safeguards since 2023, when Steil’s panel investigated the group’s failure to require credit card verification value (CVV) when processing payments.
“Given ActBlue’s demonstrated history of misleading Congress, there is considerable reason to believe that ActBlue may have deliberately withheld this responsive material to impede our investigation,” Steil and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wrote in a letter to Wallace-Jones in April.
In the letter, the senior Republicans also directed ActBlue to produce a trove of documents related to its vetting of political contributions from abroad.
Wallace-Jones has denied making false statements to Congress. The group’s lawyers have previously characterized the investigation as politically motivated and contended that ActBlue has been forthright with the committee.
Amid the GOP scrutiny, ActBlue has experienced a wave of resignations from senior legal and compliance staff.
An election countdown calendar hangs at the ActBlue fundraising office in Somerville, Mass. (Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
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The June hearing notice immediately follows the House Administration Committee advancing legislation to crack down on fraudulent political donations, including illegal contributions from foreigners. The campaign finance measure cleared Steil’s panel unanimously on Thursday.
“It’s a positive sign that people are beginning to take this risk and this threat seriously,” the Wisconsin Republican told Spectrum News.
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