South Dakota officials said Wednesday they plan to build a $ 400,000 security fence around the official governor’s residence to protect Gov. Kristi Noem. Noem’s office did not provide any specifics about any threats, but her spokeswoman Maggie Seidel said her security team recommended the gate.
Noem’s administration had proposed the fire last year, but it abandoned the plan.
The South Dakota Republican has campaigned for a practical approach to managing the coronavirus crisis. She has also raised her national political profile over the past year, including herself more closely associated with President Donald Trump, who spoke on Mount Rushmore on the eve of Independence Day this year. Seidel said that Noem’s handling of the pandemic had put them in order with some people.
“In America, we debate issues; we do not turn to violence,” Seidel said. “But it only takes one, and per the governor’s security team, placing a gate around the residence is critical at this time.”
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Noem has become a frequent guest on Fox News because she has shared controversial positions about the pandemic, often welcoming the danger of coronavirus outbreaks and large gatherings in her state.
“More South Dakotans have died from accidental injuries than from #COVID in the past 5 months, “she said tweeted this week.
But in the last two weeks, South Dakota has recorded an increase in the percentage of virus tests that return positive – and former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb warned that the virus “has become so widespread throughout the country that it could begin to infect more rural communities that have hitherto been largely untouched.”
Most recently, they welcomed one of the largest gatherings of people since the pandemic began, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. She also argued that schools should reopen this fall and push back against demands to wear masks.
“We need to give our children the best possible education, and they get that in class,” she said tweeted on Monday.
Noem, who is the first female governor of South Dakota, has gained a significant national following. She has adhered everywhere to some of the laxest coronavirus prescriptions, and positioned herself as a leading conservative voice.
“There is no governor in America who has trusted her people to make the right choices more than I have,” she said.
The rise of the governor’s first term has sparked speculation that she has political ambitions over maintaining office in South Dakota, and some conservative pundits have made her name as a potential presidential nominee in 2024. But Noem has agreed that they do not favor another job.
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Meanwhile, her administration felt the need to make the governor’s residence safer. The design for the project in the governor’s residence requires 8-foot gates made of powder-coated steel. A proposal for the gate in 2019 included a guardhouse, but the mayor’s office said that would no longer be included.
Seidel said the administration of Noem is compensating some of the costs through private fundraising. They have not released figures on how much would be paid from private donations.
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