South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem opened the third night of the Republican National Convention, making the case that President Trump is the defender of the Constitution in this presidential race.
“I’m here tonight because I believe America is an exceptional nation founded on three principles — equality, freedom, and opportunity,” Noem said. “But today, our founding principles are under attack. This year, the choice for Americans is between a man who values these ideals and all that can be built because of them and a man who isn’t guided by these ideals and, coincidentally, has built nothing.”
Noem, 48, is a close ally of Trump. She became the first woman elected governor of South Dakota in 2018, a rare bright spot for Republicans in an otherwise Democratic year. She appeared with the president at an Independence Day celebration at Mount Rushmore last month, introducing him as a man who “braves the dangers of the arena” like Theodore Roosevelt.
“In just four years, President Trump has lifted people of all races and backgrounds out of poverty,” she said of Trump on Wednesday night. “He shrunk government and put money back into the pockets of hardworking, ordinary Americans. He has advanced religious liberty and protected the Second Amendment. You can look back 50 years, and you won’t find anyone that has surpassed President Trump’s success on these four issues alone.”
“President Trump places the American people, American liberty, American security, and the American Constitution before all else,” she continued. “He honors the fact that the American people provide the ‘consent of the governed’ on which legitimate government depends.”
As governor, Noem has boasted she “never ordered a single business or church to close and never issued a statewide shelter-in-place order.” This is a noteworthy stance at a convention designed to highlight Trump’s support for economic reopening, in contrast with Democratic challenger Joe Biden. The former vice president recently said he would back a new national lockdown if advised to do so by the experts.
Noem also rejected the $300-a-week unemployment benefit that stemmed from Trump’s executive action intended to work around the congressional stalemate over new coronavirus economic assistance to states, individuals, and businesses.
“South Dakota’s economy, having never been shut down, has recovered nearly 80% of our job losses,” Noem said in a statement. “South Dakota is the only state in the nation that didn’t have extended benefits kick in, because our insured unemployment rate has been the lowest in the nation.”
A New York Times story published earlier this month suggested that Noem was angling to replace Vice President Mike Pence on the ticket with Trump. She later dismissed the report as a “bizarre attempt to generate palace intrigue.” Pence was formally renominated by GOP convention delegates on Monday.
Before winning the governorship, Noem was South Dakota’s sole member of the House of Representatives for four terms. She was elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010, serving as one of the freshman class’s liaisons to leadership and joining the conservative Republican Study Committee. It is widely speculated that Noem could be a 2024 contender.
The Republican convention has sought to showcase women who support Trump. Noem joined former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, and Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez among the female rising GOP stars who have spoken. First lady Melania Trump, broadcaster and activist Kimberly Guilfoyle, counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, and the president’s daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka Trump, have also addressed delegates.
