Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem deleted two state-affiliated social media accounts without explanation over the 4th of July weekend, local media reports and a review of the accounts show.
Noem’s official @govkristinoem X account and her Gov. Noem Facebook account have both gone dark, a review of the now-defunct pages shows. Her former X account states, “This account doesn’t exist,” while the Facebook account now brings users to a page reading, “This content isn’t available right now,” according to Fox Digital’s review of the accounts Sunday afternoon.
“So when did Gov Noem delete her official Governor Kristi Noem fb page???????” a Facebook user in a private South Dakota-focused Facebook group asked over the holiday weekend, according to Sioux Falls Live.
The outlet reported the two accounts were deactivated on the 4th of July. Her personal X account, @KristiNoem, and personal Facebook account are still active as of Sunday afternoon.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Noem’s office multiple times on Sunday for explanation as to why the accounts were deactivated, but did not receive a response. The office also did not offer an explanation to Sioux Falls Live, according to the report, instead pointing the outlet to a new X account called the Office of Governor Noem.
“For official updates from the Governor’s Office, including press releases, follow @GovNoemOffice on X,” Noem’s spokesman Ian Fury told the outlet last week.
The Office of Governor Noem was created this month, according to the account, and shows a handful of posts linking to press releases from the governor’s office. The account began posting press releases on July 3.
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Republican state Rep. Tony Venhuizen told Sioux Falls Live he was unsure why the governor pulled her two state-affiliated social media accounts, remarking that it’s very common for elected officials to have multiple X and Facebook accounts to differentiate between official duties and championing a political campaign or other issues.
“On a political or personal account, you can offer an opinion or promote campaign events, whereas on the official account, you’re going to be providing information about the action of state government, disaster response and any other number of things,” Venhuizen told the outlet. “Generally, it’s a good idea to separate those.”
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Noem had amassed more than 700,000 followers between the two accounts before they were deactivated. Her X account was wildly popular during the pandemic, as she touted keeping her state open during government-mandated lockdowns imposed on states across the country.
The South Dakota governor recently came under fire from both conservatives and liberals on social media after an excerpt of her new memoir, “No Going Back,” detailed her killing an unruly farm dog named Cricket more than 20 years ago. The governor defended putting the dog down in a statement posted to her personal X account in April, explaining, “Cricket had shown aggressive behavior toward people by biting them.”
