France denies claim by potential Trump running mate
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem was never invited to meet French President Emmanuel Macron, his office has said, despite her claim that she canceled a meeting with the leader over “anti-Israel” comments he made.
“While in Paris, I was slated to meet with French president Emmanuel Macron,” Noem wrote in her book, ‘No Going Back.’ “However, the day before we were to meet he made what I considered a very pro-Hamas and anti-Israel comment to the press. So, I decided to cancel.”
The meeting was apparently set to take place last November, as Israel bombarded Gaza following Hamas’ surprise attack on the Jewish state.
An official from Macron’s office told NBC News last week that Noem was never invited or scheduled to meet with the French president.
Asked to respond on Friday, a spokesman for Noem told NBC that “the Governor was invited to sit in President Macron’s box for the Armistice Day Parade at Arc de Triomphe.”
“Following his anti-Israel comments, she chose to cancel,” the spokesman said, adding that Macron “did not end up attending, either.”
Earlier this year, former US President Donald Trump named Noem as a potential running mate, adding the North Dakotan to a list of potential vice presidents that now reportedly includes South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, New York Representative Elise Stefanik, Ohio Senator JD Vance, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
However, the release of ‘No Going Back’ earlier this month has embroiled Noem in a storm of negative publicity. An anecdote in the book about shooting dead a 14-month-old puppy over behavioral issues caused outrage on social media, but Noem doubled down, insisting that “tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm.”
Noem also included an anecdote about meeting North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un during a trip to Asia in 2014. When journalists pointed out that this meeting never took place, Noem said that the passage had been included in error. However, she has refused to admit that she never met Kim.
With conservative and liberal pundits alike arguing that Trump is now unlikely to choose Noem as a running mate, the former president said last week that “she had a rough couple of days. I will say that.”
