French Government Disputes South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem Story About Canceling A Meeting With President Emmanuel Macron

Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s new book is facing yet another controversy over her claim that she canceled a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron after his comments about the Israel-Hamas war. The French government has now officially denied she was ever offered such a meeting.

For weeks, Noem’s memoir No Going Back has been criticized after a story that she shot her family dog in it was revealed. 

The governor also said she met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un but had to retract that story when fact-checkers proved it was not true. 

According to Noem’s book, “While in Paris, I was slated to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron. However, the day before we were to meet he made what I considered a very pro-Hamas and anti-Israel comment to the press. So, I decided to cancel.” 

Noem was invited to sit in Macron’s box during the Armistice Day Parade at the Arc de Triomphe – not meet with the president. Macron did not attend the ceremony either. 

In the memoir, Noem said that she shot her dog Cricket when she started to attack farm animals. “All of that shows that when you put someone in a position where they have to make a decision, and they want to protect their family and protect children and other people from getting attacked from an animal that has attacked others and killed livestock, that’s the choice I made over 20 years ago,” Noem told Face the Nation. “And that I didn’t ask somebody else to take – take that responsibility for me, that I had to make that decision myself.” 

Noem also suggested that President Joe Biden‘s dog should have been shot just like Cricket.

The governor has faced bans from seven Native American tribes in recent weeks and now cannot enter 20% of her state.