Despite receiving comparisons this week to South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), Sen. Mitt Romney (UT-R) is shutting them down, saying their stories about their dogs are not the same.
Last week, an advanced reading of Noem’s new book, “No Going Back,” received criticism after a report from The Guardian detailed how, in the book, Noem described killing her 14-month-old dog.
In it, she described grabbing her gun and leading the dog, named Cricket, to a gravel pit before pulling the trigger.
“It was not a pleasant job, but it had to be done. And after it was over, I realized another unpleasant job needed to be done,” Noem wrote.
The reports quickly drew comparisons to Romney, who, during the 2012 presidential race, was criticized for a decade-old story about him tying his dog Seamus to the roof of his family’s car in his kennel during a road trip.
But, while Noem is facing criticism and potentially losing her chance of being selected as former President Trump’s running mate, Romney isn’t standing for the comparisons, he shared with the HuffPost.
“I didn’t eat my dog. I didn’t shoot my dog,” Romney said Tuesday. “I loved my dog, and my dog loved me.”
Romney defended his decision to put his dog’s kennel on the roof of his car during the 12-hour Canadian road trip in 1983.
At the time of his presidential campaign, he told Fox News that the kennel was “completely airtight” and safely mounted.
“He climbed up there regularly, enjoyed himself,” he said. “He was in a kennel at home a great deal of time as well. We loved the dog. It was where he was comfortable, and we had five kids inside the car.”
As for Noem, the South Dakota governor took to social media to explain last week.
“We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm,” she said in a post to X. “Sadly, we just had to put down 3 horses a few weeks ago that had been in our family for 25 years.”
Despite this, several top Democrats have been quick to offer their own thoughts, including Noem’s neighbor, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D).
“Post a picture with your dog that doesn’t involve shooting them and throwing them in a gravel pit. I’ll start,” Walz posted on X with a photo of his dog eating ice cream.