South Dakota's Republican Gov. Kristi Noem called The New York Times "liars" Friday during a "War Room" podcast with Steve Bannon after the publication used a quote from her that seemed to be critical of former President Donald Trump and his decision to run for president again.
In a story published by the Times on Wednesday, Noem was quoted as one of several key nationwide GOP leaders that the publication said were "inching away" from Trump and his bid to regain the White House in 2024.
"If we narrow our focus there, then we're not talking to every single American," the Times reported Noem saying in an interview. "Our job is not just to talk to people who love Trump or hate Trump. Our job is to talk to every single American."
The paper also similarly quoted Arkansas GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson saying that Trump's Tuesday's 2024 campaign announcement was "self-serving" and "chaotic."
"The New York Times are liars," she said during the podcast. "What they printed is not what I said. What I said is that every single one of us, as Republicans, needs to be messengers. It's all of our jobs.
"President Trump is the only one running for president, who's the only one who has been president. He's obviously the leader of our party right now and he has a responsibility, but we all do, too."
Noem, who easily won reelection as governor in the midterm elections defeating Democrat Jamie Smith 62% to 35.2%, said that it is not just the responsibility of one person to get the GOP message out to voters.
"I think that's what we need to recognize," she said. "That we should not put all the weight of messaging what is great about America on one person. That it's every one of our jobs and we should get up every day with that responsibility on our shoulders."
She also hinted that Republicans need to change campaign strategies after the lackluster performance that gave the party the slimmest of majorities in the House and losing the Senate to Democrats.
"[Republicans] are all responsible," she said. "We all failed in this election by not talking and telling our stories. What we did is what conservatives believe in, and it works."
She said instead of just "bashing" President Joe Biden for his failed agenda that has hurt the country, Republicans at all levels should have been promoting what they were doing to make people's lives better in whatever capacity they did.
"We did conservative things, and we know the benefits that come," she said.
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