One of the more bizarre side stories going on in politics is what exactly Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) is doing using her position to become a brand ambassador on social media.
Noem traveled to Texas for a dental appointment, which would be an odd enough story on its own, but was made more bizarre when she posted a video on X promoting the company. The video features Noem praising Smile Texas in what feels like a five-minute infomercial, complete with the infomercial background music.
I love my new family at Smile Texas! The video says it all, and I am so grateful for their help fixing my smile for me.
pic.twitter.com/z2kTmiY8td
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) March 12, 2024
It is truly, utterly weird, compounded by the fact that Noem has been the focus of a series of commercials recruiting workers to South Dakota. The ads feature Noem dressed up as various professions and saying that she is “helping out” until South Dakota can fill its open positions. Sure enough, one of those ads features Noem as a dentist. Going to a dentist in Texas would be odd under those circumstances in the first place, but excusable. Then effectively cutting an ad for that dentist makes the whole thing truly odd.
Noem is now facing a lawsuit for not disclosing that the video was an ad (which, again, it was, for all intents and purposes), with the lawsuit alleging that “She likely either received free dental care in exchange for this advertisement, discounted dental care in exchange for this advertisement or she was paid and received free dental care for the advertisement.”
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Noem is now doing the rounds promoting businesses in South Dakota, including a 24-second video touting a company that made her custom insoles and a 22-second video promoting a coffee shop. This would, again, be excusable as a governor touting her state’s local businesses, but going on a commercial spree right after a five-minute infomercial touting a business from Texas makes it seem less about the businesses and more about Noem finding opportunities to put herself in front of a camera.
None of this is to allege financial impropriety or anything of the sort. It is to say that Noem is making herself appear more interested in being a social media influencer than a governor. Noem’s made a series of decisions that reflect poorly on either her political judgment or her focus on her job, and it is well within people’s rights to ask what exactly it is that she is doing.