Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney was criticized for abandoning his family's pet dog on the top of a car during a road trip.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem shot her 14-month-old wirehaired pointer, Cricket, in front of a construction crew after the dog attacked some chickens.
In recent news, two political figures have found themselves in the spotlight due to their past actions involving dogs. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney have both faced scrutiny over their handling of canine companions.
Firstly, Governor Noem has come under fire for an incident where she shot her 14-month-old wirehaired pointer, Cricket, in front of a construction crew after the dog attacked some chickens. This revelation was made public through her new book
Kristi Noem made disturbing and absurd comments about threatening to harm or kill Joe Biden's dog Commander.
Noem implied that she would have Commander killed if she were president.
In the book, Noem includes a description of her shooting dead her own dog Cricket and an unnamed goat.
Accuracy
,
Deception
(30%)
The author makes selective reporting by only reporting details that support the author's position, in this case, the controversial comments made by Kristi Noem about Joe Biden's dog. The article does not provide any context or counter-arguments to these comments. Additionally, there is emotional manipulation through the use of words like 'disturbing,' 'absurd,' and 'incinerated.'
Noem asks: ‘What would I do if I was president on the first day in office in 2025?’ Remarkably, she writes that 'the first thing I’d do is make sure Joe Biden’s dog was nowhere on the grounds.'
The White House condemned as ‘disturbing’ and ‘absurd’ comments in which Kristi Noem threatened to harm or kill Joe Biden’s dog.
The revelation sparked a political firestorm, widely held to have incinerated Noem’s chances of being named running mate to Trump.
Fallacies
(75%)
The article contains a few instances of inflammatory rhetoric and an appeal to authority. The author uses inflammatory language when describing Noem's threat as “absurd” and “disturbing.” Additionally, the author appeals to the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, as an authority on the matter. However, no formal fallacies or dichotomous depictions are present in the article.
The White House condemned as “disturbing” and “absurd” comments in which Kristi Noem...
We find her comments from yesterday disturbing,” Karine Jean-Pierre, Biden’s press secretary, told a White House briefing.
But as the book neared publication on Tuesday, it became clear Noem was not done when she closed her chapter on killing Cricket...
Bias
(5%)
The author, Martin Pengelly, demonstrates a clear bias against Kristi Noem by reporting on her threatening to harm or kill Joe Biden's dog and implying that she is not fit for the presidency due to this threat. The author also reports on Noem's past actions of killing her own dog and a goat, which are used as evidence of her being unfit for the presidency.
But as the book neared publication on Tuesday, it became clear Noem was not done when she closed her chapter on killing Cricket, a 14-month-old female wirehaired pointer, and the unnamed male goat. At the end of No Going Back, Noem asks: ‘What would I do if I was president on the first day in office in 2025?’ Remarkably, she writes that ‘the first thing I’d do is make sure Joe Biden’s dog was nowhere on the grounds. (‘Commander, say hello to Cricket for me.’)’
But unlike other hopefuls, among them the South Carolina senator Tim Scott and the New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik, Noem was not called to the stage.
Noem has defended her description of killing Cricket and the goat as evidence of her willingness to do unpleasant but necessary things in farm life as well as in politics.
The White House condemned as ‘disturbing’ and ‘absurd’ comments in which Kristi Noem, the Republican governor of South Dakota and a potential running mate for Donald Trump, threatened to harm or kill Joe Biden’s dog.
Gov. Kristi Noem killed her dog Cricket for bad behavior.
Noem also killed a goat in a fit of rage.
Accuracy
Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota published a new memoir where she bragged about killing her dog Cricket for bad behavior.
,
Deception
(50%)
The article contains deceptive practices by the authors through editorializing and sensationalism. They make light of serious issues such as political unrest on college campuses and the killing of animals, which can be perceived as trivializing these topics. They also make false claims about a politician's actions, in this case, Governor Noem's alleged meeting with Kim Jong-un.
Bret: I wanted to get your take on the political implications. Hard to see how the unrest doesn’t hurt President Biden while lifting Trump.
Bret: An instant literary classic, albeit of the inadvertent variety.
Gail: There has to be a goat lovers’ lobby out there.
Fallacies
(95%)
The article contains an informal fallacy called 'Red Herring' in the discussion about Gov. Kristi Noem killing her dog Cricket and goat. The authors diverted the conversation from the main topic of discussing Noem's potential vice-presidential nomination to talking about her killing animals, which is not directly related to her qualifications for the position.
Bret: An instant literary classic, albeit of the inadvertent variety. Gail: In it she brags about having killed her dog Cricket for a string of bad behavior. Bret: But it looks like Cricket’s crime was that he preferred the taste of chicken to pheasant.
Gail: Well, this does give me another opportunity to say I’m sorry I devoted so many columns to making fun of Mitt Romney for driving his dog to Canada in a carrier on the roof of his car. I was mainly trying to find a little diversion in a deeply boring presidential campaign, but Noem has given him the opportunity to say ‘I didn’t shoot my dog,’ and he took it.
Kristi Noem's team advised her against including a story about shooting her dog Cricket two years ago in her book.
The incident involved Cricket ruining a pheasant hunt and killing neighbor’s chickens.
Accuracy
Kristi Noem shot and killed her dog Cricket due to bad behavior.
Kristi Noem implied that she would have killed Joe Biden's dog Commander if she were president.
Deception
(30%)
The article contains selective reporting as the author only reports details that support the deceptive narrative about Kristi Noem's book and her past actions. The author also uses emotional manipulation by implying that Noem's decision to shoot a dog is inhumane and contrasting it with Biden's handling of his own pet. Additionally, the article implies facts without linking to peer-reviewed studies or sources regarding Noem's alleged meeting with Kim Jong Un.
But for every book like that, there are volumes by supposedly can’t-miss candidates like Marco Rubio that disappear along with the politician’s fortunes.
The ongoing Noem spectacle is, to put it mildly, not the kind of roll-out that typically accompanies a look-at-me book by a national-politics wannabe.
What it didn’t do, of course, was spark a weeklong news cycle – and a round of obituaries for that same political future – by including a tale about Noem leading a 14-month-old wirehaired pointer named Cricket to a gravel pit and shooting him to death after he ruined a pheasant hunt and killed a neighbor’s chickens.
Fallacies
(85%)
The article contains an appeal to authority when it mentions the number of copies Noem's first book sold and its placement on the New York Times bestseller list. The author also makes a hasty generalization about political memoirs being boring and formulaic without providing evidence.
It sold 100,000 copies across all formats and made the New York Times bestseller list, an easy win for its publisher.
But it is an interesting window into the Washington industry of pre-campaign memoirs – where the goal of defining a brand is often at odds with the goal of producing interesting copy, and where nobody puts a great deal of emphasis on quality control or literary drama.
The rising-national-candidate subgenre historically stood out in its formulaic dullness.
It was their calling card
They will often be crashed, so they come in late, and then they’re edited quickly.
Bias
(80%)
The article mentions the author's opinion that Noem's decision to include the story about shooting her dog in her book is an example of a political culture that fails to recognize how loving dogs is a mainstream piece of American culture. This can be seen as an implicit criticism of Noem for making this decision, implying that it was an unusual or extreme action. The author also mentions the controversy surrounding Noem's claim about meeting Kim Jong Un and her confusion of one world leader with another, which could be seen as examples of poor quality control in the book.
it fails to recognize how loving dogs is a pretty mainstream piece of American culture.
Newspapers and magazines stand behind the things they put out, but in book-publishing, the veracity of a work is entirely on the writer.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem bragged about shooting her 14-month-old wirehaired pointer, Cricket, in front of a construction crew after the dog attacked some chickens.
Mitt Romney drove his family’s Irish setter, Seamus, on the roof of their station wagon during a road trip in 1983.
Accuracy
Kristi Noem made disturbing and absurd comments about threatening to harm or kill Joe Biden’s dog Commander.
Deception
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Fallacies
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Bias
(95%)
The author expresses clear bias towards Governor Kristi Noem by comparing her actions of shooting her dog to Mitt Romney's incident of putting his dog on the roof of his car during a road trip. The author also implies that Noem's actions are more extreme and unjustifiable than Romney's, despite the significant difference in severity between the two incidents. Additionally, the author uses language that depicts Noem as uncouth and insensitive.
But how could that possibly compare with Noem bragging about shooting her dog–in front of a startled construction crew, no less–after Cricket attacked some chickens and she concluded the dog was untrainable?
It's troubling to see people in politics and the media immediately equating Senator Romney’s milder dog incident (relatively speaking!) with Noem’s dog-execution-at-dawn.
What does that say about how uncouth political discourse has become? And what does it say about what politicians must think of their constituents?
