FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SEPTEMBER 15, 2022
ICYMI: Kristi Noem Uses State Plane for Personal Business
In case you missed it, let’s recap some of the ways that Kristi Noem has used our state plane and wasted South Dakota taxpayer dollars.
Throughout 2019 Kristi Noem used our state plane to crisscross the country, attend national political events, and boost her national image.
AP: “Noem flew in state planes to 2019 events hosted by political organizations like the National Rifle Association, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Women, Turning Point USA, and the Republican Jewish Coalition. She also used a state plane to fly to New York City with her family, where a float from the Department of Tourism appeared in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. But she has defended those trips as part of her job as ‘an ambassador for the state.’”
In February 2021, Democratic Senator Reynold Nesiba requested that the Attorney General look into Kristi Noem’s plane use.
Keloland: “‘Governor Noem has acted as if it’s her airplane, she forgets that it’s our airplane and the people of South Dakota who pay for that airplane have set very clear rules. We only want it to be used for state business,’ Nesiba said.”
The plane logs were finally released last week, and during an interview with Keloland, Kristi Noem falsely claimed she uses the state plane less than previous governors.
Keloland: “‘I’ve used the plane probably half as much as the previous governor, nobody has covered that, I use it very little for the exact same events the previous governor did, and the governor before that, and the governor before that, so this is just a political hit job because I was the only one who had balls enough to say this attorney general that killed a guy and left him in a ditch and lied about it and covered it up shouldn’t be the attorney general anymore,’ Noem said.”
But here’s the truth: Former Gov. Daugaard used the state plane far fewer times in 2018 than Noem did in 2019.
Keloland: “In 2018, then Governor Dennis Daugaard flew in a state plane a total of 37 times, seven of which were out-of-state flights… For newly elected Governor Kristi Noem, however, 2019 was a major year for flights. Noem flew on state planes a total of 57 times in 2019; 17 of which were to out-of-state locations.”
And now it’s been revealed that our state plane was used to fly Kristi Noem and her family around the state to attend a family member’s wedding.
Keloland: A set of take offs and landings weren’t the only thing happening at Custer State Park within that time frame. It was also the location of a wedding between Kyle Peters and Noem’s daughter, Kassidy.
C’mon Kristi. Do you think the people of South Dakota aren’t going to notice how you’re wasting their money? Let’s be clear: South Dakotans deserve better from our leaders. It’s time to elect Democrats who won’t put their personal interests before South Dakota.
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