South Dakota Republican governor Kristi Noem is facing intense reaction from the right because of her recent decision not to enact a bill on transgender athletes that she had promised to sanction.
Noem, who was repeatedly singled out as a potential candidate for the White House in 2024, may be putting her political aspirations at risk after sending the draft Women’s Justice in Sports Act back to state lawmakers.
The bill, which aims to ban biological men from competing in women’s sports in public schools, was defended by the governor earlier this month, while she celebrated International Women’s Day.
“I’m excited to sign this project very soon,” Noem tweeted on March 8.
TUCKER ASKS NOEM IF SHE IS ‘CAVERNING TO THE NCAA’ FORBIDDING TRANSGENERATING WOMEN FROM GIRL SPORTS
However, critics are accusing Noem of “giving in” to corporate interests after the NCAA and companies like Amazon issued threats of retaliation against South Dakota if the bill were to become law.
On Monday, Noem rejected that idea, telling Tucker Carlson of Fox News that she only asked for revisions to the project. She insisted that the bill, as drafted, would be challenged in court and that the state would “probably lose” those cases, citing “lawyers” she consulted. Noem also talked about plans to build a “coalition” of states to fight the NCAA.
“I did a ‘style and form’ review and asked the legislature to change it so I could win,” said the governor. “I am not interested in starting a fight that we cannot win.”
GOV. NOEM REVERSE SUPPORT FOR BILL THAT PROHIBITS TRANSGENERIC WOMEN TO PARTICIPATE IN FEMALE SPORTS
Noem’s defense was even more criticized by conservatives, to the point of generating a response from his cabinet.
“Apparently, the uninformed culture of cancellation is fine when the right is eating its own,” Noem’s communications director, Ian Fury, said on Tuesday. “A less passionate review of the facts tells a very different story. Governor Noem has long advocated justice in women’s sports.”
His office added, “If the conservative media took [five] seconds to read the automatic headlines and really understand Governor Noem’s position, they came to a very different conclusion. ”
Conservative digital magazine The Federalist offered a forceful response on Wednesday, saying to Noem: “Criticizing cowardly politicians is not ‘canceling culture’, it is democracy.”
“Instead of accepting the fact that Noem’s conservative base is furious at his recent setback and sudden unwillingness to sign the important bill, the governor’s office says the most ‘strategic’ way to confront the legislation is to avoid ‘ fight a losing battle with the NCAA ‘, ”wrote the federalist team writer Jordan Davidson. “His attempts to pretend that he resisted ‘tremendous pressure from corporate bigwigs and the radical left to veto the project’ continue to fail as further evidence that his inner circle … has strongly influenced his decision to abandon this cultural war fight. ”
NOEM: MEDIA USED MEDIA ‘TO BOOST AN AGENDA DURING COVID PANDEMIC
Davidson highlighted Noem’s chief of staff, Tony Venhuizen, a board member of the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce. Another adviser, Matt McCaulley, is a lobbyist whose clients include the owners of the Sanford Sports Complex, who reportedly sought to host NCAA tournaments.
“Noem is not in danger of being ‘canceled’, she is just experiencing the consequences of having [an] An ideologically oriented voter base that knows how to budge in the face of corporate pressure makes you a worthless flagship, “continued Davidson.” The worst part, however, is that Noem refuses to confess his mistake. She is hiding behind fake campaigns to promote justice in women’s sports, when she could just sign the bill that would do just that. “
She added: “Her office also refuses to disclose the names of the legal experts on whom she claims to have based her decision, masking exactly who continues to advise her in a manner contrary to her own state’s legislature, informed by appointed legal experts. , suggested. “
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION
However, not all conservative media outlets criticized the governor. RedState classified Noem’s critics as “doctrinal purists” who are “trying to swallow an entire apple instead of eating it in several bites”, while dismissing “economic damage” and legal challenges as “valid reasons” to reevaluate the language of the bill.
“People who criticize Noem seem to think that the only two results here were to have the status written down or to have no status at all. This is a stupid group thought,” wrote RedState contributor Shipwreckedcrew. The option is to have a poorly written statute that attracts the ire of the NCAA and probably falls into a legal challenge from the ACLU. The alternative is a rewritten statute that the NCAA can ignore, as it does not directly affect college sports and has a much simpler language that increases your chances of surviving a legal challenge and does not cause school districts to be sued. the entire state. “