People who might become vice presidents in the future have made great efforts to try and get the approval of former President Donald Trump. And on Sunday, a popular contender tried to set herself apart from the others.
During a CNN interview on Sunday, Dana Bash, Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) promised to back Trump even if he is convicted in his New York criminal trial, and also criticized former Vice President Mike Pence , accusing him of “failing” Trump since Jan. 6, 2021.
Bash, in a tense moment, interrupted Noem after she claimed “the Democrats and the activists are using this trial to derail [Trump], to keep him in court, instead of out talking to Americans.”
“I just want to say, for the record, there’s absolutely no evidence that President [Joe] Biden is involved in this,” Bash said. “This is a case … being brought, in the state of New York by the Manhattan D.A.”
Noem interrupted — taking the opportunity to mention Hunter Biden.
“That’s what I think is remarkable,” Noem said. “That if you look at President Biden and what he’s done and what his son has done, and the fact that they’re not being prosecuted—”
“That has nothing to do with this,” Bash said, cutting Noem off.
After questioning the South Dakota governor for several minutes about the former president’s trial, Bash asked Noem if her support for Trump is dependent on the trial's outcome.
“Big picture, governor, if Donald Trump is convicted in this trial, will you still support him in November?” Bash asked.
“If my choice is between Joe Biden and Donald Trump every single day of the week, yes, I will support Donald Trump,” Noem replied. “I have, from the very beginning. He has been someone that I have supported since 2016.”
Noem went on — in puzzling fashion — to portray Trump as a modest everyman.
“I recognized that he didn’t think he was better than anybody else in this country,” Noem said. “He wanted to go run for this office so he could serve the people here and fight for them every single day.”
Trump, of course, during his 2016 acceptance speech at the RNC convention, famously declared that he was the only person capable of “fixing” the United States “political system.”
“Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it,” Trump said.
In the waning moments of the interview, Noem took a shot at Pence for heavily criticizing Trump over the past several years.
“I think that he’s failed Donald Trump since [Jan. 6],” Noem said. “Because he certainly does not recognize that we need someone in the white House who needs him out on the trail advocating for him, instead of constantly criticizing and going back and ripping him apart.”
Watch above via CNN.
