South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s (R) controversial new book faced a new hurdle Friday after a French government official questioned her account of a canceled meeting with President Emmanuel Macron, NBC News reported.
Noem claimed in her recently released book that she made a last-second cancellation to plans to meet Macron over one of his statements that she said was anti-Israel.
“While in Paris, I was slated to meet with French president Emmanuel Macron,” she wrote in the book. “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.”
Macron’s office told NBC News that there is no record of Noem ever being scheduled to meet the president, nor had she ever been invited.
Noem’s spokesman told NBC News that the governor had been in Paris for a political conference in November 2023, and that she was invited to Macron’s private box for the country’s Armistice Day parade.
The dispute adds to a list of errors in the book, which also includes an anecdote of an improbable meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. There is no record of any meeting with Kim, and Noem said it should not have been included in the book, though she added it was not a fabricated story.
The anecdote with Kim and a second story involving former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley were removed from the release version of the book by its publisher following the pushback.
The book, “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward,” was also scrutinized over a story that Noem had killed her 14-month-old hunting dog due to misbehavior. Noem has repeatedly doubled down on the decision to shoot and kill the dog, despite widespread criticism, claiming the act was for the safety of others.
The blunders in the book release come as Noem is believed to be a finalist to be former President Trump’s running mate. It is believed that Noem cut a media and appearance tour for the book short last week due to the backlash, and political commentators believe the snafu may have tanked her chances to be on Trump’s ticket.