Name: Kristi Noem tried to take a victory lap for her coronavirus response on CBS. It did not go well.
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Kristi Noem tried to take a victory lap for her coronavirus response on CBS. It did not go well.

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South Dakota’s governor got a great reception at CPAC. Her interview on Face the Nation hours later was a different story.South Dakota governor and rising conservative star Kristi Noem was a big hit at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, where during a headlining speech. But an interview she did hours later with CBS highlighted how her attempt to turn reality on its head doesn’t survive scrutiny.In reality, South Dakota’s laissez faire approach to the pandemic — including Noem’s refusal to enforce a mask mandate — has amounted to “,” as Bloomberg recently put it. The state has one of the 10 in the United States. More than 1 in 500 residents has died since the pandemic began. And, as Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan noted during the CBS interview, South Dakota’s mortality rate has been the highest in the country since last July.Noting that the governor is a staunch conservative, Brennan pressed Noem to explain how someone who claims to care about the sanctity of life can “justify making decisions that put the health of your constituents at risk.” Her response was nonsensical whataboutism.“Those are questions that you should be asking every other governor in this country as well,” she said, even though the whole point of the question is that South Dakota’s Covid-19 response has been a failure — and far more limited — when compared to the vast majority of other states.BRENNAN: Since July, your state has the highest Covid death rate. How can you justify that?NOEM: Those are questions that you should be asking every other governor as well — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar)Perhaps most egregiously, Noem people to come to her state last August for the Sturgis motorcycle rally, despite the raging pandemic.Public health experts said holding the rally, which ultimately drew nearly , was a very bad idea. And has borne that out — research from the Center for Health Economics and Policy Studies at San Diego State University found it not only could have infected hundreds of thousands of people with the virus, but will potentially involve more than $12 billion in health care costs.Vox’s German Lopez is here to guide you through the Biden administration’s burst of policymaking. .Asked about the San Diego study by Brennan, Noem indicated she values allowing “people to make decisions for themselves” above all else.“Listen, what we did was allow people to make decisions for themselves,” she said. “We gave them all the information on this virus — how to protect their health — and then we allowed them to make decisions on what they would do.”“My question is, if we had mandated that people had to stay home, if we had mandated that businesses had to be closed, would that have made a difference?” Noem continued. “I would argue that it wouldn’t have.”Asked if she takes personal responsibility for the 2020 Sturgis motorcycle rally being a superspreader event, Noem says "what we did was allow people to make decisions for themselves" — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar)As Brennan pointed out, however, Noem’s position is not backed up by facts. In addition to the aforementioned San Diego study linking Sturgis with many thousands of cases, President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force coordinator, Deborah Birx, recently Noem’s decision to allow Sturgis as “not okay.” And as the reports, health experts believe the rally may have seeded coronavirus cases across the Midwest, contributing to the rise in cases seen nationally last fall.Noem’s coronavirus response has even been panned by Republicans like West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, who responded to critics of his mask mandate last November by , “I don’t want to be South Dakota.” Brennan asked Noem about Justice’s remark, but instead of engaging with it, Noem immediately pivoted to bashing blue-state governors like Andrew Cuomo and Gavin Newsom, both of whom have faced questions over their Covid-19 response.Pressed on Face the Nation about a Republican governor citing South Dakota as an example of how not to respond to Covid, Gov. Kristi Noem immediately pivots to whatabout Cuomo and whatabout Newsom — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar)In short, Noem’s CBS interview did not go well for her. But Margaret Brennan is not the GOP base, and if Noem’s CPAC reception is any indication, Republican voters actually view her coronavirus response as a success.“Let me be clear — Covid didn’t crush the economy, government crushed the economy,” Noem claimed at CPAC on Saturday, before taking a direct shot at trusted public health experts.“Dr. Fauci is wrong a lot,” she added, to huge applause.South Dakota is in the bottom 10 in the country in terms of Covid mortality and yet she's out here taking a victory lap and attacking Dr. Fauci — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar)Noem’s position that personal freedoms are more important than public health seemed to be the consensus view at CPAC. This was illustrated by a remarkable scene on Friday in which organizers of the conference had to beg attendees to follow hotel rules and wear a mask on the premises, to boos and yells of “freedom!”CPAC officials have to remind attendees to please, for the love of God, comply with the hotel's rules and wear a mask. Unhappy people in the audience yell "freedom!" — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar)Noem isn’t big on masks herself. Earlier this month, she was widely criticized for tweeting out photos of herself posing maskless with a group of legislative pages during a dinner at the governor’s mansion (all but one page in the photo was maskless).Fun page dinner tonight at the Governor’s residence. Our future is bright! — Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem)At the very least, the photo set a bad example for her constituents — particularly given she has left it up to them whether to wear masks. But in these polarized times, what to the scientifically minded looks like a bad example looks to Republicans like a heroic example of owning the libs.. Every Friday, you’ll get an explainer of a big policy story from the week, a look at important research that recently came out, and answers to reader questions — to guide you through the first 100 days of President Joe Biden’s administration.Millions rely on Vox’s journalism to understand the coronavirus crisis. We believe it pays off for all of us, as a society and a democracy, when our neighbors and fellow citizens can access clear, concise information on the pandemic. But our distinctive explanatory journalism is expensive. Support from our readers helps us keep it free for everyone. If you have already made a financial contribution to Vox, thank you. If not, please consider making a contribution todayUnderstand how policy impacts people. Delivered Fridays.

South Dakota’s governor got a great reception at CPAC. Her interview on Face the Nation hours later was a different story.South Dakota governor and rising conservative star Kristi Noem was a big hit at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, where during a headlining speech. But an interview she did hours later with CBS highlighted how her attempt to turn reality on its head doesn’t survive scrutiny.In reality, South Dakota’s laissez faire approach to the pandemic — including Noem’s refusal to enforce a mask mandate — has amounted to “,” as Bloomberg recently put...

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Aaron Rupar

Vox is a liberal-leaning American news and opinion website owned by Vox Media. The website was founded in April 2014 by Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, and Melissa Bell, and is noted for its concept of explanatory journalism. Vox's media presence also includes a YouTube channel, several podcasts, and a show presented on Netflix.

Kristi Noem tried to take a victory lap for her coronavirus response on CBS. It did not go well.

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