Gov. Kristi Noem’s state has been ravaged by her Trumpian response to the pandemic — but that hasn’t paused her national ambitions
At first, the angel of death skipped over South Dakota. This pleased the Snow Queen.
It was Fourth of July weekend, and Gov. Kristi Noem was hosting Donald Trump for fireworks at Mount Rushmore. Covid-19 had already killed 122,000 Americans. Still, Noem cleaved closer to Trump’s failed policies than any other governor. In public, she recited Trump’s talking points: Covid was a Democratic plot to take over the country, masks were optional, and we’re open for business. Superficially, the statements seemed less crazy when delivered in the calm voice of a rancher’s daughter instead of that of an outdated tangerine con man. She even had South Dakota host a clinical trial for hydroxychloroquine, the president’s preferred snake oil.
Noem made the bet that the novel coronavirus would miss her rural state, and so far she had been mostly right. As the holiday approached, South Dakota had lost only 97 people. Of course, those 97 died horrifically. Early in the crisis, ICU nurse Adam Drake monitored a Covid-positive young man at Rapid City’s Monument Health Hospital. The man was intubated and allowed no visitors, per Covid protocol. He was heavily sedated and remained unresponsive until the 27-year-old Drake held up an iPad with the man’s family on the other side of a video call. Then tears ran down the man’s face. He died a few days later. Continue reading.