Kristi Noem appears to confirm she won’t be Trump’s running mate

Kristi Noem, the South Dakota governor once believed favorite to join Donald Trump on the Republican Party ticket in November’s presidential election, may be officially out of the running.

Her chances appeared to be dashed after she published a memoir that included the story of how she once executed the family dog in a gravel pit.

In an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday (June 23), host Peter Alexander asked whether she had received any paperwork from the Trump campaign related to the vetting process to be vice president.

“Let me ask you about some of our reporting that shows that there are three names now on Donald Trump’s shortlist to serve as his vice presidential pick. Yours is not one of them right now. Are you being vetted? Have you received the paperwork?” asked Alexander.

“No, I haven’t received any paperwork. No. I haven’t,” Noem replied. “I’ve had conversations with the president, and I know that he is the only one who will be making the decisions on who will be his vice president.”

It is widely believed that the field has narrowed to North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Ohio Senator JD Vance, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

Alexander then asked: “You said that having a woman on the ticket would help Donald Trump win. And he said on this program last year that he liked the concept of running with a woman. Only men, as you know, are on his short list right now: Burgum, Vance, Rubio. Would Donald Trump be making a mistake if he does not pick a woman as his running mate?”

“You know, I think he needs to pick the best person for the job,” said Noem. “He needs to pick someone that will help him win. And I think that President Trump is in a fantastic position to win this election. He’s strong. He’s right on all the policies. He needs to pick somebody who will help him win and make sure that he’s back in the White House fighting for America.”

Alexander then asked Noem whether the blowback from writing about shooting her dog, Cricket, either fairly or unfairly cost her her shot at being vice president.

“You know, I would say that was a story from 20 years ago about me protecting my children from a vicious animal, so we’ve covered that, and any mom in those situations when you have an animal that’s viciously killing livestock and attacking people… it’s a tough decision and the reason it’s in my book is because that book is filled with challenging times and hard decisions.”

Trump told NBC reporters on Saturday that he has made his choice of who will be his running mate but has not told anyone yet. He did say they would attend this Thursday’s presidential debate.

It is believed an official announcement will come either at or shortly before the Republican National Convention.