South Dakota governor Kristi Noem at the 2020 Republican National Convention, South Dakota. (Getty/ Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Committee)
The anti-LGBT+ governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem, once had Donald Trump‘s face carved into a tiny version of Mount Rushmore.
Noem is currently under fire for her financial decisions, which include having South Dakota prison inmates build her a giant desk, which she then received at a discount price.
But according to LGBTQ Nation, Noem previously made another bizarre and ethically questionable purchase.
Last year, she gifted Trump a small version of the monument in South Dakota, built on stolen Indigenous land, that included his head.
Seen for the first time ever: The sculpture Trump lapdog, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, gave to Trump with his likeness added to Mount Rushmore. It’s 27 inches wide, 12 inches tall. Nice he has it since no real monument or statue will ever honor Trump. (Photo: Tom Lawrence) pic.twitter.com/B948ssf4Qw
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) September 5, 2021
Trump had reportedly expressed interest in having his face etched into the rock when he first met Noem.
Noem said in an interview in 2018: “He said, ‘Kristi, come on over here. Shake my hand.’
“I shook his hand, and I said, ‘Mr President, you should come to South Dakota sometime. We have Mount Rushmore.’
“And he goes, ‘Do you know it’s my dream to have my face on Mount Rushmore?’”
Noem said she began laughing, before realising that “he was totally serious”.
The South Dakota governor gifted him the 12-inch version, when it became clear that she didn’t have the authority to etch Trump’s face into a national monument.
Trump later denied that he had suggested it.
Anti-LGBT+, anti-abortion South Dakota governor Kristi Noem spread COVID misinformation during the pandemic
Kristi Noem, who has supported legislation to ban trans girls from playing sports, opposes same-sex marriage, and passed a broad religious freedom bill which critics fear could be used to discriminate against queer people in the name of faith.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem refused to implement face mask mandates, and questioned the advice of health experts, publicly expressing doubts about the efficacy of masks and social distancing.
However, she did promote hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of a tweet from Donald Trump, even announcing that South Dakota would test the drug after it was proven to not be effective.