Kristi Noem’s Kim Jong Un Lie Resurfaces
Kristi Noem — the controversial Homeland Security Secretary and former South Dakota governor — is going viral after a resurfaced lie from her 2024 political memoir No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong With Politics and How We Move America Forward that has social media calling her credibility flat-out gone.
The Lie That Won’t Die — Kim Jong Un Claim Bites Back
Long before national outrage erupted over federal immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, Noem’s book hit a wall of ridicule for a bizarre, dubious claim: she wrote that she met North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un during her time in Congress — an encounter experts say never happened and is virtually impossible.
When the false passage leaked in 2024, Noem admitted the Kim Jong Un anecdote was inaccurate and had her publisher agree to remove it from future print, e-book, and audiobook editions — though she had already narrated the lie in her own audiobook.
Political analysts called the flub a self-inflicted credibility wound, and critics blasted Noem for fabricating world-leader meetings to aggrandize her résumé.
Now, with fresh national scrutiny over her leadership, that old book lie isn’t just a funny meme — it’s fueling a larger narrative of deception that many are using to question her honesty at the highest levels of government.
From Fiction to Tragedy
Over the past few weeks, Noem’s DHS has been engulfed in controversy following two fatal shootings involving federal agents in Minneapolis. Most recently, 37-year-old VA nurse Alex Pretti was shot and killed by Border Patrol officers during an immigration enforcement operation.
Noem rushed to defend the agents, labeling Pretti a “domestic terrorist” and claiming he approached officers armed.
The backlash has been damning already. House Democrats launched formal investigations and impeachment talks rooted partly in claims that Noem misled the public. Moderate and progressive senators have openly called for her removal.
Even some Republican lawmakers and law enforcement groups are demanding accountability and transparency.
