South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) needs to reassess her floss-ophy when it comes to making public endorsements, according to a consumer protection nonprofit, which is suing her over an unsettling five-minute video she posted earlier this week touting dental work she’d had done by a Texas clinic.
The group, Travelers United, claims Noem violated consumer protection laws by filming an “undisclosed advertisement” for Smile Texas. “If you want to promote medical tourism on social media in exchange for $ and/or free or reduced priced services, you can do that,” they said in a statement on X. “Just make sure to put Ad as the first word in your caption to comply with the law.”
The bizarre video features Noem, who identifies herself as South Dakota’s governor, effusively praising Smile Texas for giving her the chance to fix her grin after a bike accident years ago “knocked out all” of her front teeth.
ADVERTISEMENT
“But 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,” she said. “You know I think that I chose the team here at Smile Texas because they’re the best.”
The video ends with a shot of Smile Texas’ logo.
“No one with an extremely important job in South Dakota would fly to Texas to receive dental treatment and then sit in that office and film an advertisement without some form of compensation,” the lawsuit claims. “Kristi Noem acted here as an influencer. She likely either received free dental care in exchange for this advertisement, discounted dental care in exchange for this advertisement or she was paid and received free dental care for the advertisement.”
It was not immediately clear why Noem sought out-of-state dental care, nor why she felt compelled to film and post what essentially amounted to an infomercial. She had not publicly addressed the matter as of Wednesday night.
Noem was also called out by South Dakota Sen. Reynold Nesiba (D), tweeting on Wednesday that her “infomercial raises a number of questions.” He called for an inquiry into the matter in an interview with the Associated Press, saying he wanted to know whether Noem had used a state airplane or public funds for the trip. Her stumping for a Texas business “just undermines the millions of dollars that we have invested in her as being a spokesperson for South Dakota,” he added.
Noem, a full-throated denizen of MAGA World, is one of the names twisting in the wind as former President Donald Trump considers who he wants to be his running mate in the 2024 presidential election. She endorsed him for president last year, and reiterated her support at a bill-signing event on Wednesday morning. Asked by a high schooler whether she planned “on being vice president,” Noem responded with a smile.
“I don’t know,” she said, according to the Mitchell Daily Republic. “You know, my answer used to be that President Trump and I had never talked about it,” Noem said. “We’ve talked about it, and what I’ve told him is that I’ll do whatever it takes for me to help him win.”
