Kristi Noem has a brighter smile, but her social media posts promoting businesses have some gritting their teeth

Is Kristi Noem still smiling? Maybe so, but a lot of other people are gritting their teeth over some of her social media posts.

The Republican governor posted a video on Facebook, X, Truth Social, and Instagram of a dental procedure she had done in Texas on her X page. Noem said Smile Texas repaired damage she suffered in a biking accident.

“I love my new family at Smile Texas!” Noem said. “The video says it all, and I am so grateful for their help fixing my smile for me.

“The team here was remarkable and finally gave me a smile that I can be proud of and confident in, and that really is a gift that I think is going to be incredibly special to have. I chose the team here at Smile Texas because they’re the best.”

Noem (seen above in a White House meeting during her days in Congress in a public domain image posted on wikimedia commons) has drawn more than frowns from political foes. A consumer advocacy group, Travelers United, filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, claiming she was advertising a product “without disclosing that she has a financial relationship with that company.”

It said she is now working as a social media influencer. But the complaints and a lawsuit didn’t slow her down.

On Thursday, Noem posted a video endorsing a South Dakota shoe company.

“Fit My Feet does amazing work to make custom insoles. Just wait… I’m gonna be so fast!”

Kevin Woster, who has been covering South Dakota politics for more than four decades, said Noem’s promotional videos are unprecedented.

“I can’t think of any major elected official in South Dakota who has done anything even remotely similar to this. Or, frankly, who would have wanted to,” Woster said. “But then Noem is constantly doing things we haven’t seen before — often disturbing or disappointing things, to me at least. I know her admirers would disagree. I certainly think a governor who first campaigned for the office in part — and a fairly big part — on transparency should, at least, be more transparent on things like this. But other than some initial moves like the reporter shield law, she has actually gone the other way.”

He said Noem, who served four years in the South Dakota Legislature and eight years in Congress before being elected governor in 2018, seems to have changed.

“Especially since Trump and COVID, she has been less accessible and transparent with in-state news media than any governor in my lifetime — and maybe far before it — while, of course, being available to the conservative media folks whenever they reach out,” Woster said. “And while I don’t know the legal realities involved in doing the infomercials, to me they seem to edge up to or maybe cross an ethical line. And I certainly think they degrade or cheapen the status of her office, which is really ‘our’ office, since it belongs to all South Dakotans.”

He said her desire to fix her smile might be connected to her admitted desire to be former President Donald Trump’s running mate.

Noem has been a staunch ally of the former president and he has supported her. He campaigned for her in Sioux Falls when she ran for governor in 2018. She hosted Trump at a rally and fireworks show at Mount Rushmore on July 3, 2020, and presented him with a bust of the national memorial with his face added to it.

Trump appeared with Noem at another rally in Rapid City on Sept. 8, and she endorsed him for president.

Woster said he assumes Trump likes Noem’s dental work and video or maybe doesn’t care.

“He certainly doesn’t concern himself with ethical lines, or even legal ones. And maybe it was someone in the Trump orbit who led Gov. Noem to the dental operation in Texas,” he said. “It’s so hard to know these days where she’s getting direction and inspiration, but I have to believe Trump or Noem’s and her staff’s desire to please Trump are behind it somehow. Or maybe it’s simply Noem’s need to look better for the national spotlight she seems to crave, although I thought her smile was just fine before.”

Northern State University political science professor Jon Schaff said he is astounded by the uproar over Noem’s choppers.

“This whole thing strikes me as a proverbial tempest in a teapot. I wish that the biggest problem facing South Dakota is who whitens the governor’s teeth,” Schaff said. “Noem is getting national attention as a potential running mate for Donald Trump. Her opponents are grasping at anything to rough her up.”

He agreed with Woster that no other South Dakota politician — including high-profile figures like Joe Foss, George McGovern, Tom Daschle, Bill Janklow or John Thune — has ever done something like this before.

“I think it is odd that a sitting governor would engage in a kind of product endorsement more typical of a celebrity or an athlete,” Schaff said. “I don’t know that I would call it improper, which suggests unethical, but perhaps governors should be more statesmanlike rather than using their notoriety to sell a commercial product.”

State Sen. Reynold Nesiba, one of just 11 Democrats in the 105-member South Dakota Legislature, called on the Government Operations & Audit Committee, which he serves on, to examine Noem’s dental work.

“I just thought it was a very strange video about how much she enjoyed having her teeth done at that particular place,” Nesiba, who is term-limited and will depart from the Senate after this year, told the AP.

The committee, controlled by Republicans, will not look into the video, however. Chairman Ernie Otten rejected the idea.

Schaff said Noem should disclose if she received any compensation for the videos.

“I have no idea on the legality of the matter, but I think as a matter of open government it’d be best that she disclose such a thing, especially since it appears to be unprecedented,” he said. “Those of us who are state employees have to fill out disclosure and conflict of interest forms if we start taking in significant outside money.”

State Rep. Linda Duba, a Sioux Falls Democrat, said it’s hard to understand why Noem did this. Her spokesman, Ian Fury did not respond to a request for comment, which is his usual reaction.

“One can only guess what she is doing. The insoles piece was weird but it is a South Dakota company so she had to do that,” Duba said. 

She noted she has also endorsed a Spearfish coffee shop, claiming they are real Americans and patriots.

“Common Grounds coffee in Spearfish is a fantastic coffee shop. Corey and Kelli are the owners, and they love America!” Noem posted on Thursday. “Stop by the next time you’re in town!”

Duba said this flurry of online activity seems directed toward getting attention and trying to persuade Trump to choose her as his running mate.

“She’s headed to Ohio for a Moreno rally with Moreno and (Trump),” she said. “She can show off her new teeth.”

Brian Bengs, a retired Air Force colonel and judge advocate general who ran as a Democrat against Thune in 2022, 

“As a former federal ethics advisor and advocate for good government practices, I am appalled that our governor or any governor would do a commercial endorsement,” Bengs said. “As a South Dakotan, however, I am not surprised as our Legislature gives Kristi wide latitude to do pretty much whatever she wants. I have not researched South Dakota ethics standards in detail although I note they are almost nonexistent. The state is consistently given an F when applying objective anti-corruption standards.”

He said the federal government has detailed ethics standards, and the use of office for private gain is explicitly prohibited, as is endorsing any product, service or enterprise. Bengs earned a Master of Laws degree in International Law at George Washington University and taught political science and criminal justice at Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D., for four years.

“Although Kristi did not use an official account to share her endorsements, in our social media environment it may as well have been from her governor account,” Bengs said. “Asking her to disclose compensation ‘so everything is above board’ implies that it’s OK or can remedy any issues with the executive of a state doing endorsements which it cannot. Not only will this increase her chances of being selected as Trump’s running mate, but I believe it was done precisely for that reason.”

He noted that Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway endorsed Ivanka Trump’s fashion products in a 2017 television interview that actually increased her sales.

“There was a firestorm about the clear ethics violation and the president backed her up to preclude any disciplinary action,” Bengs said. “Kristi is demonstrating that she has no reservations about shilling any Trump or Trump ally’s product as vice president. He now knows she will help him make more money as president.”

Duba said while Noem’s reasons for becoming an infomercial star are unclear, it’s apparent to most people that it is not among her duties.

“No, this is not what a governor should be doing,” she said.

Woster said he would like to see Noem spend more time and effort on her state, not her national political ambitions, dental needs or shoe products.

“I just wish she’d focus more on South Dakota, the state she says she loves so deeply,” he said.

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. Reprint with permission.