Kristi Noem

Kristi Noem    ( politician)
Born	November 30, 1971  Watertown,  South Dakota,  U.S.
Nationality	US
Partner	Corey Lewandowski
Children	3
Spouse	Bryon Noem
Governor of South Dakota, defied intense pressure to "lock down" state for Covid. Selected Secretary of Homeland Security in the second Trump administration.  United States Secretary of Homeland Security  In office January 25, 2025 - March 24, 2026  South Dakota/Governor  In office January 5, 2019 - January 25, 2025

Kristi Noem was Governor of South Dakota during Covid, where she notably did not lock down the state. After signing a bill into law "that conflates some criticisms of the modern state of Israel with anti-Semitism" in March 2024, she was selected to Secretary of Homeland Security in the second Trump administration.

COVID-19 "pandemic"

During the alleged "COVID-19 pandemic" in South Dakota, Noem took a different approach than most other states She did not implement face mask mandates, frequently raised doubts about the efficacy of mask-wearing, encouraged large gatherings without social distancing or mask-wearing, and rejected the advice of the subsection of public health experts that wanted lockdowns.As of December 2020, she was one of few governors who had not issued statewide curfews or face-mask mandates.

By February 2021, the total mortality of all causes in the state was fully in line with the other years in the period 2000-2020.

Unemployment

Sixteen weeks after Trump's executive order that provided enhanced weekly unemployment benefits of $300 as part of the U.S. federal government response to the pandemic, Noem opted out of the program, citing a low state unemployment rate. South Dakota was the only state to refuse the assistance. Its jobless rate in June was 7.2%, up from 3.1% in March, though down from 10.9% in April. Acceptance of the funding required the state to augment the benefit by $100 unless other jobless assistance allowed for the match to be waived.

By December 2020, South Dakota's employment rate had dropped to 3%, lower than before the declared pandemic.

Israel lobby

In March 2024, Noem signed a bill into law that stated that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism must be taken into consideration in investigations of unfair or discriminatory practices within the state of South Dakota. The IHRA's definition was first adopted in 2016 and lists "drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis" as an example of anti-Semitism. It lists "denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination" by 'claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor" as another example of anti-Semitism.

Private life

In March 2026 her husband, Bryon Noem, was revealed by the UK Daily Mail as a secret cross-dresser who had been dressing up and paying adult entertainers to talk dirty, paying them at $25,000 during the 14 months his wife led the nation's largest federal law enforcement agency. Meanwhile, Kirsti Noem had an affair with Corey Lewandowski, a longtime GOP operative who married 9/11 widow Alison Hardy in 2005. All this would have shown up in a standard security clearance check before she became Secretary of Homeland Security.

 

Event Participated in

Event	Start	End	Description
Donald Trump/Second presidency	20 January 2025	20 January 2029	The Donald Trump 2.0 administration.

Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.