Although Kristi Noem was fired from her role as the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, she was recently honored with a bronze statue. She attended an unveiling of the statue in South Dakota, where she served as governor from 2019 to 2025, on Friday, August 7. The statue is of Noem and her horse and exists alongside bronze statues honoring other state governors along the “Trail of Governors.”
On social media, people had a lot to say about it, and the comments were pretty brutal.
For one thing, people failed to understand why she was deserving of a statue.
Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem attends bronze statue unveiling that honors her governorship of South Dakota. pic.twitter.com/Dbnq4GndLH
— CSPAN (@cspan) August 7, 2026
Reacting to a clip from the unveiling on X, one critic wrote, “I could think of a long list of others more deserving of a statue. Just saying.” A lot of commenters didn’t seem to realize that the “Trail of Governors” installation is a thing in South Dakota, so they were really bothered by Noem getting honored in this way. It also felt reminiscent of President Donald Trump’s frequent participation trophies that he’s now known for.
“Giving out bronze statues to losers who accomplished nothing and got fired is now the new American Way,” another critic commented. Someone else said, “We’ve moved from participation trophies to participation statues? WTF?” To Noem’s critics, it almost made it seem like anyone can get a statue.
People also mentioned her husband and her dog.
Oh my goodness, what a special day. ❤️. Today the Trail of Governors Committee unveiled my official statue and portrait on the state capitol grounds – and my grandchildren did the honors. Everywhere I looked, there were people I loved who have stood by our family as we served the… pic.twitter.com/SZkynYrCzg
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) August 7, 2026
In addition to the controversies related to her actual Trump admin role, Noem has made headlines due to several other scandals as well. So, of course, when her critics saw her statue, some of them made comments about her husband, Bryon, whose participation in the “bimbofication” community was made public. He did not attend the unveiling.
Multiple critics also questioned why Noem’s dog wasn’t part of the statue. In her memoir, Noem admitted to shooting and killing her 14-month-old puppy named Cricket. Numerous people referenced this incident in the comments, and a few noted that they felt sorry for Noem’s horse.
“She’s the one that shot her 14 month old puppy in 2024,” a critic commented. “Let’s make the statue that that shows who she really is.”
Unsurprisingly, her rumored affair with Corey Lewandowksi was also mentioned. “What has she done for society worthy of a statue?” another critic wrote. “In my opinion killing puppies and cheating has no redeeming societal value.”
Noem said being governor was her third favorite job.
Didn’t she get fired? https://t.co/4KNzeKf7Wp
— Jared Shult (@jared_shult) August 8, 2026
Her Trump admin role was not included in her top three. At the unveiling, she said, “The best job I’ve ever had in my life is being a grandmother. And then behind that was being a mom. And then it was being governor of South Dakota.” Which almost feels like a Trump snub, except she did claim that she “loved” working for him.
“I was telling him a couple days ago, I said, you know, you were the first person really that I’ve worked for in over 30 years,” she said. “Ever since my dad passed away, I always was able to work for myself or work for the people of South Dakota. And he said, Kristi, it was so easy working for me. Yes, sir, Yes, you’re right. It’s so easy working for you.”
Meanwhile, Noem was fired from her DHS role in March. She was then appointed to a new role called “Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas,” which Trump created after she was fired.
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