Kristi Noem will officially endorse Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 presidential election. The North Dakota governor will lead an event with the former president in her home state and make the endorsement official for CNN, who first reported the news. Noem will become the fourth governor to support Trump, after Henry McMaster, Jim Justice and Mike Dunleavy.
According to recent polls, Noem has a 61% popularity rating in South Dakota, making her one of the most liked governors in the country. According to Morning Consult, she is second only to Ned Lamont, Key Ivey, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Josh Green, Andy Beshar, Jim Justice, Chris Sununu, Mark Gordon and Phil Scott.
In an effort to bring more workers to her state and raise her profile nationally, she's running a $5 million ad campaign.
Noem will attend an event with Trump in Rapid City and tickets are completely sold out. The former president carried the state in two previous elections, garnering 61% of the vote in both 2016 and 2020.
"Our country is breaking right in front of our very eyes today, and everybody should be a part of putting it back on its foundation. And if President Trump is going to be back in the White House, I'd do all I can to help him be successful," Noem said in an interview with Sean Hannity in August.
Noem for vice president?
Since Trump launched his campaign for president, the third of his political career, Noem's last name was one of those first heard as a possible option for vice president. It is no secret to anyone that both have a very good relationship, in addition to what the governor would bring to the ticket: executive experience, gender balance and pull in the northwest region of the country.
“It's clear that she's positioning herself to get to be selected as vice president or, in the alternative, if something happens where President Trump starts to falter, or doesn't receive the nomination, to run for president to pick up the MAGA flag and carry the banner,” a Noem donor, who spoke anonymously, told POLITICO.
"Everybody assumes she’s running. It’s very obvious. Not a week goes by where she’s not on Fox News. It’s a national strategy", they added.
Speculation about Trump's pick to accompany him on the ticket extends to Nikki Haley, Kari Lake, Tulsi Gabbard, Tim Scott, Francis Suarez and Glenn Youngkin, among others.
