Believe it or not, there was once a time–not very long ago, in fact–when Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem weren’t justly “friendly” with one another, they were friends.

Before VP Kamala Harris tapped Walz to be her running mate in the 2024 presidential election, prompting Noem to label him a “radical” and an “extremist”, the two midwesterners were colleagues in the House of Representatives.

Not only did the work together on legislation, they even said nice things about one another in the press and posed for selfies with each other when they were both elected governors of their states in 2018.

It was a rare bipartisan friendship that appeared, dare we say, genuine.

In 2013, Walz and Noem recorded a video together to promote the Protect Our Prairies Act, which they were co-sponsoring at the time. In the video, they expressed kindness and appreciation for one another.

“It’s a smart bill and I’m grateful to the Congresswoman both as we share similar geography out there, and while our producers are great stewards of the land, we share that land with our sportsmen and making sure that we have those resources available,” Walz said.

“I love working with Tim just because he’s got such a commonsense approach, which I like too,” Noem added.

The prairie bill was just one of many bills the two worked on together. During their shared time in Congress, they co-sponsored more than 150 bills.

Contrast that to today when, the day Walz was announced at Harris’ VP, Noem wrote a scathing tweet about him, accusing her old friend of being a liar who’s on a mission to destroy people’s freedom.

“Walz is no leader. He’s a radical. I served with him in Congress. He pretended to be moderate, then showed his true extremist colors as soon as he became Governor,” the admitted puppy killer wrote.

“South Dakota has been kicking Minnesota’s butt economically for years. Last year, nearly 7,000 Minnesotans moved to South Dakota because Walz took his people’s Freedom away. Harris-Walz will be the most radical left-wing ticket in American history.”

(Fact check: South Dakota has not, in fact, been “kicking Minnesota’s butt economically for years.” In 2023, it’s economy size was ranked number 47 in the nation, while Minnesota’s came in at number 20.)

She followed that up a week later with another tweet blasting Walz as un-American for his “extreme woke values”, which include supporting gender-affirming health care for trans youth, which she falsely called “mutilating children with irreversible surgery.”

(Fact check: Walz has never advocated for “mutilating” anyone, much less children. He did, however, sign a law protecting access to puberty blockers and other necessary healthcare for LGBTQ+ people, as well sign a law declaring Minnesota a “Trans Refuge” state.)

The gay-hating governor then made a string of media appearances, in which she blatantly lied about the guy she used to “love working with.”

On NewsMax, she falsely claimed Harris had “chosen a radical leftist governor who truly believes that socialism is the future for America and put him on the ticket with her.”

(Fact check: Walz has never said socialism is the future of America and has accused Republicans of red-baiting. Speaking to MSNBC’s Jen Psaki in July, he said, “How are you gonna build a water-treatment plant in a town of 400 if you don’t have a collective effort at it? They scream socialism; we just build roads.”)

And in an interview on Fox News, she again made false claims (and some racist dog whistles) by saying he “didn’t take decisive action, didn’t support his cops” following the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and instead “supported BLM.”

(Fact check: During the protests, Walz deployed the largest Minnesota National Guard presence since World War II and directed the state patrol to offer support to Minneapolis police in their response to the violence. Shortly after the protests, he signed a law prohibiting “warrior training” and the use of chokeholds and other restraint methods by law enforcement. He also took the case against the officers responsible for Floyd’s death away from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and re-assigned it to the state attorney general, Keith Ellison, who led a successful prosecution against them. Earlier this month, audio of Donald Trump praising Walz’s “tremendous” response in a 2020 phone call was made public.)

Walz hasn’t directly responded to any of Noem’s attacks against him, but in a recent statement, his spokesperson Teddy Tschann said the Minnesota governor/VP contender looks forward to continuing to work across the aisle to help the American people.

“Governor Walz routinely worked with Republicans in Congress to pass legislation aimed at helping veterans and farmers, and he struck bipartisan deals with a split legislature in Minnesota to cut taxes and fund schools,” Tschann said. “He knows how to compromise without compromising his values, and he’ll always work across the aisle if it means delivering for the American people.”

During his speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week, Walz emphasized the importance of being kind to your neighbors, a lesson he attributed to growing up in the town of West Point, Nebraska. 

“I’ll tell you what, growing up in a small town like that, you learn to take care of each other,” he said. “That family down the road, they may not think like you do, they may not pray like you do, they may not love like you do, but they’re your neighbors. And you look out for them, and they look out for you. Everybody belongs.”

Later in the speech, he said, “In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make. And even if we wouldn’t make the same choices for ourselves, we’ve got a Golden Rule: mind your own damn business.”

Evidently, Noem doesn’t agree with that sentiment. And while she has demonstrated a willingness to assail her old friend for just about anything, there’s one line of attack she’s been avoiding, and for good reason.

Last weekend, MAGA went after Walz for his family dog, Scout, on social media, claiming the governor lied about canine’s identity when he allegedly shared two different photos featuring two different dogs but named-checked Scout in both.

As quickly as the conspiracy theory took off, it was debunked when a community note was added clarifying that “the photo on the right is from a dog park that Tim Walz was at with Scout and many other dogs.” Scout can be seen playing with these dogs, the note explained.

Last night on MSNBC, Jen Psaki ripped into “bad-faith right-wingers”, including conservative activist Charlie Kirk, NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines, and Minnesota state Rep. Mary Franson, who spent their weekends spreading the conspiracy theory online.

“They’ve now resorted to attacking the family dog,” Psaki said. “I really wish I was joking. I am not joking.”

“As crazy as it sounds, bad-faith right-wingers on social media said it was all evidence that Tim Walz was lying about something,” she continued, adding, “Of course, this is a particularly ironic attack coming from the party whose own rising star ― you know who I’m about to talk about here, Kristi Noem ― boasted about hating her own family dog so much she took it to a gravel pit and shot it.”

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