Kristi Noem, President Trump’s nominee to become the next secretary of Homeland Security, has some of the most extremist religious views of any of his appointments.
Like Trump, Noem has claimed to be divinely called to office. Her campaign website quotes Noem as saying, “I want to be obedient to whatever God has called me to do.” Like Trump, she believes God has a divine plan for her life, telling a religious site: “We’ll see what God has planned because I’ve learned he likes to surprise me.”
Noem once told South Dakota Public Radio, “My relationship with the Lord is my foundation in all things. As a result, the values I hold according to biblical principles impact my decisions.” Her public discussions about the importance of the U.S. Constitution seem limited to her support for the Second Amendment and her disputing that the Constitution separates religion from government.
“Most of Noem’s life has been about three things: faith, family and farming,” as Fox News puts it. She prayed about running for Congress, where she served four years, but was “worried about us being disobedient to what God may be asking us to do.” There, she participated in a bipartisan bible study.
Once elected as governor of South Dakota, she sponsored a church service in the Capitol rotunda in January 2019 billed as an “Inaugural Worship Service with Governor Noem,” although every aspect was Christian. “You are Lord and King of South Dakota,” said an invited pastor about her at the event. “We thank you Lord God that we have faith and that the Holy Spirit absolutely takes over every corner and every crevice of this Capitol and of this state.” The pastor then prayed that “any demon that may try to come in this place is kicked out.”
Noem’s official gubernatorial bio, headlined “South Dakota: Under God, the People Rule,” concludes with a sentence saying her family loves “the Lord” even more than each other.
Noem’s disdain for science was seen during the pandemic. She fought the shutdowns and masking mandates, encouraging the large motorcycle rally at Sturgis, S.D., in 2020 — where she made an appearance on a horse brandishing a flag — that resulted in what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called “widespread transmission” of Covid-19.
“Since she became the first female governor of South Dakota in 2019,” ProPublica reported, “she has rejected programs and millions of dollars in federal funds that would have benefited pregnant people, parents and children — policies that might be at odds with her vision of limited government.” This famously led a critic to say Noem is “all hat and no cattle.” Noem signed into law a religious refusal bill granting a license to discriminate against LGBTQ individuals.
After Roe v. Wade was overturned, she enthused to the Christian Broadcasting Network, “This is the decision that so many people have prayed for, for so many years.” A trigger law went into immediate effect in South Dakota that outlaws all abortion except in limited circumstances to save the woman’s life, and which would prosecute any physician performing a termination. Noem issued an executive order in 2021 banning mail order telemedicine abortion care.
Noem is considered an election denier. She also courted unwanted notoriety last year when her memoir titled “No Going Back” recounted her decision two decades ago to shoot her 14-month-old dog Cricket after leading her to a gravel pit.
Noem would oversee the 260,000 federal employees and a $62 billion budget, overseeing Trump’s crackdown on immigration, but also playing a key role in preventing domestic terrorism. Her views and record make her unfit to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national association of 40,000 members whose purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
