Noem's Speech Leads to Cancellation of GOP Fundraiser

Kristi Noem is getting slammed for details revealed in her new memoir, on everything from killing her own dog to claims on meeting Kim Jong Un and being threatened by Nikki Haley. Now, a Republican fundraiser featuring the South Dakota governor as keynote speaker has been canceled, after a Colorado GOP group says they, Noem and her staff, and the Denver Marriott West received "numerous threats and/or death threats," reports NBC News. "After a conversation with the Governor's office late Wednesday, we mutually decided that safety was the most important concern for everyone involved," Jefferson County Republican Party chief Nancy Pallozzi said in a Friday statement about the planned event for the next day.

Pallozzi added that Noem had agreed to host the fundraiser in April, when Pallozzi's group had "no prior knowledge of the contents" of Noem's book, per Politico. She told NBC that the party will offer a "full refund" on tickets, and that it wasn't an easy decision to nix the fundraiser. "We have lost money in this," she said. "This was meant to be a fundraiser, but now we've lost thousands of dollars." Pallozzi also noted in her statement that her group is "not taking a position on the public outcry on the Governor's book." Meanwhile, a Noem rep told People on Friday that some "small errors" had found their way into Noem's book—including the Kim Jong Un blurb—and that "all future editions will be corrected." (More Kristi Noem stories.)