When a consumer advocacy group attempted to serve South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem with legal proceedings in March over her social media support of a Texas dental clinic, the group claims that she was “highly evasive” and “threatening.”
In March, Travelers United filed a complaint in D.C. Superior Court, alleging the Republican governor engaged in “deceptive advertising practices” when she praised a Texas dental practice’s treatment on her teeth on social media. According to Noem, there was no sponsored promotion in the posts.
Last Monday, a judge dismissed the complaint, ruling that Travelers United had neglected to provide documentation proving Noem had received the lawsuit. However, the consumer advocacy group claimed to have “successfully served” Noem in a filing on Tuesday.
Noem, whose name has surfaced as a potential running mate for former President Donald Trump in 2024, has been in the news for the past month due to her admission in her new book that she shot and killed her dog, Cricket, when it was 14 months old, 20 years ago.
The process server “stated that she was threatened and that Noem and her staff were hostile,” according to a Travelers United attorney, who also added that she “felt legitimately threatened” since Noem had “recently been in the news for shooting and killing her dog.”
The brief claimed that Noem was adequately notified of the litigation and that it should be permitted to proceed, without providing specifics regarding the “threatening” behavior.
In the court filing on Tuesday, Lauren Wolfe, a representative for Travelers United, stated, “Travelers United had discussed the issue of service with Ms. Noem’s lawyers and thought that they were going to resolve this issue with their client in a professional manner based on our video conference on Thursday, May 23, 2024.Based on a tweet from Ms. Noem that she released today at about noon, Ms. Noem had other ideas.”
Noem celebrated the case’s dismissal earlier on Tuesday and claimed that Travelers United’s “actions have exposed them as a fake watchdog group filing frivolous claims to smear me” in a post on X.
“To be clear, I never received compensation for any alleged ‘advertisements,'” Noem stated in the post.
Noem shared a nearly five-minute video on social media in March, detailing her experience having Smile Texas, a cosmetic dentistry business, modify her teeth.
“The team here was remarkable and finally gave me a smile that I can be proud of and confident in, and that really is a gift that I think is going to be incredibly special to have,” Noem stated in the video. “I chose the team here at Smile Texas because they’re the best.”
A politician from South Dakota was curious about the ad since she thought it was “odd” that Noem would be endorsing a dentist office in Texas. Noem has not provided an explanation for her choice to record the video and share it extensively on social media.
