At Rapid City rally, S.D. Gov. Kristi Noem auditions to be former President Donald Trump’s running mate in 2024

John Lennon famously said, “I hope we’ve passed the audition,” as The Beatles concluded their final performance, a bitterly cold but rocking set atop the roof of the Apple Corporation building in central London on Jan. 30, 1969.

It was a joke, of course, and the small assemblage of family members, friends and people fortunate enough to witness their farewell show laughed. The Beatles were already legends, with no need to audition for anyone.

Gov. Kristi Noem, however, must have felt some pressure Friday night when she auditioned for one man — former President Donald Trump — during a rally for the South Dakota Republican Party at The Monument in Rapid City. Noem hopes to be his running mate in 2024, and possibly his successor after that, so she was in the spotlight in her home state.

“I will do everything I can to help him win and save this country,” Noem said as she endorsed the former president who is facing 91 felony counts. That didn’t come up Friday night.

Noem (seen above at a 2019 roundtable discussion with Trump in an official White House photo taken by Tia Dufour) quoted a Republican hero, President Theodore Roosevelt and referred to him as “Teddy.” TR hated that nickname, but she either does not know that or does not care.

Trump, she claims, is the ”man in the arena,” bloody but unbowed. It was a comparison former President Richard Nixon loved to make as well, even titling a book based on it. But while TR was indeed a fighter and a brave man, Trump and Nixon were far from the rough and ready outdoorsman that Roosevelt was.

She did take a shot at Trump's rivals for the Republican nomination, trying to cast the former guy as a true friend of our state.

“All of them told us that they had better things to do,” she said. “But when President Trump was invited to come be with you tonight, he said, ‘I will be there.’”

This is a course change for Noem, who pondered a White House herself before deciding to let other, better-known and better-funded candidates duke it out. The fact that her name either did not appear in preference polls or was at 1% likely was a factor, too.

In the fall of 2022, after she had rolled to an easy win to earn a second term as governor, Noem seemed to be backing away from Trump. She said he didn’t offer “the best chance” for the party in 2024.

But Republican voters have stuck by him so far. His lead over his main challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis grew even as he was repeatedly indicted on criminal charges.

Noem suddenly was back in his camp.

“The fact is, none of them can win as long as Trump’s in the race. And that’s just the facts,” she said on Fox News’s ‘Fox and Friends.’ “So why run if you can’t win.”

It’s also worth noting that her main political advisor is the loathsome Corey Lewandowski, a former Trump campaign manager and confidant who is back in his good graces. Noem briefly distanced herself from him after a drunken altercation with the wife of a major Republican donor in Las Vegas in the fall of 2021.

But she can’t stay mad at him. He continues to provide her guidance on how to become a national figure, and wind up at the top of the political ladder.

A CNN preview of Friday’s Rapid City Trumpfest said Noem has positioned herself to remain a vice-presidential option.

“When [Noem’s] name comes up in conversation, it’s been positive,” a source close to Trump said. “She’s been loyal to him. She’s eloquent, she defends him but doesn’t steal the spotlight.”

Trump, if he gets the nomination, may select a female running mate, and Noem is elbowing her way to be among the top choices.

“Of course, I would consider it,” Noem told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Aug. 17.

Brother, would she!

How about a presidential campaign of her own, Hannity asked?

“I’m focused here, you know that, Sean,” she said. “But … the goal is to continue to live a life of significance. I think we all should get up every single day and do what we can to protect this greatest experiment in history. Our Founders gave us an incredible gift. Let’s not drop the ball on our watch.”

That “life of significance” means, “Of course I want to be president!” That’s been apparent for a few years, despite a lack of obvious qualifications for the top job. But that didn’t stop her when she ran for Congress in 2010, and she has not let her flimsy resume prevent her from climbing the ladder.

If running for VP is the next step in the rung, Noem is eager to take it. That’s why she was trying ever so hard to please Trump on Friday, taking the stage to the AC/DC song “Thunderstuck.” She hopes lightning strikes for her.

She called Trump “the world’s strongest leader.” He no doubt loved that line — hell, he may have written it.

Noem also said he had picked her as “the most popular and favorite governor.” Seriously, she said that.

She said a lot of things, but I couldn’t take any more of it. It was the same list of boasts, brags and BS from Noem and Trump, and there’s a limit to how much of that I can absorb.

Trump came out to the unofficial GOP theme song, Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.” He wore his usual uniform of baggy blue suit, long red tie and carefully coiffed hair. Trump almost immediately praised South Dakotans as “hard-working, God-fearing patriots” and blasted the media, called Biden names and said the country was “going to hell.”

How patriotic.

He praised Noem for keeping the state completely open during the pandemic — she didn’t of course — and said her endorsement “means a lot.” Noem surely hopes so.

But there are a lot of Republican women eager to pose next to him — and position themselves for a 2028 presidential bid. They include New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn.

Trump will almost certainly not team up with former VP Mike Pence, now a rival for the nomination, but he may choose to partner with a man. Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, and two other presidential hopefuls, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, are possible options.

The CNN report said Noem is eager to shake the dust of Pierre and Castlewood from her boots and return to Washington, D.C. She served four terms in Congress — not that she did much to remember those eight years by — from 2011-19. But she is a master at self-promotion.

Republican strategist Matt Langston of Austin, Texas, told CNN that Noem is “angling to keep all her options open” for the future. She cannot run for a third consecutive term as governor in 2026, so she needs to find a new way to make money and garner the attention she craves.

“With everything being so fluid on the national stage, she has been very good about pushing her state as an example during Covid and all of these national hot-button issues,” Langston said. “She’s kept her state at the forefront. She’s got a bright future. She’s sticking with Trump, which is smart at this stage.”

He said even if she is not his running mate, she could be considered for a cabinet post. Reportedly, she was a candidate for secretary of agriculture in 2017.

Noem also may seek to return to Congress. Sen. Mike Rounds may have a primary challenge in 2026. I have heard the same whispers about that race, and Rounds has said he might want to return to the governor’s office he held for two terms.

“My sense is Gov. Noem is not done with DC,” the strategist told CNN. “If I was Mike Rounds, I would be looking over my shoulder.”

Any way you look at this, it puts Noem in the spotlight, and she loves that. She has never lost an election and is easily the most successful woman in South Dakota political history, and one of the most successful politicians, period.

The South Dakota Democratic Party released a statement before the Rapid City Republican rally, battering Trump and Noem, and praising President Joe Biden.

“Under Donald Trump’s leadership, South Dakotans were plagued by failed policies that have hurt farmers and middle-class families, created incentives to ship jobs overseas, and left the economy in shambles. Together, Donald Trump and Governor Noem are continuing to push extreme policies and work for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations at the expense of what’s best for hard-working South Dakota families.

“Even as Governor Noem rails against investments, President Biden is working to help our state address the environment, strengthen our cybersecurity, and fight child hunger. The Biden-Harris administration continues to lower costs, boost our economy, and deliver historic progress for hard-working South Dakotans. Our country is at a 54-year low in unemployment. Investments in infrastructure by the Biden Administration and a Democrat led Congress is the largest since Roosevelt’s New Deal. South Dakota will receive $124 million over the next five years to improve its roads, bridges, public transportation and airports.

“It’s time for our elected leaders to step up and ensure we receive and use every dollar available for a stronger South Dakota,” the SDDP said.

It’s good to see the South Dakota Democrats back to attacking Republicans instead of battling each other. But the reality is, Trump is a lock to carry the state for the third straight time if he is the nominee.

The question is, will our governor be on the ticket with him? She was trying out for the job on Friday, and she hopes she passed the audition.

Tom Lawrence has written for several newspapers and websites in South Dakota and other states and contributed to The New York Times, NPR, The  Telegraph, The Daily Beast and other media outlets.