SiriusXM Urban View host Karen Hunter sharply criticized South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem during a recent broadcast, reacting to a contentious Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in which Noem faced questions about immigration enforcement and a fatal Minneapolis incident.
Hunter called Noem “a horrible person” while describing a tense exchange between the governor and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.
“She is at a hearing and she’s being grilled by members of the Senate who want answers,” Hunter said. “About what happened in Minneapolis, about the killing of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, about all of the ways in which she has used social media to demonize people and not be accountable for the mess that she made.”
Hunter said Tillis’ questioning stood out because it crossed party lines.
“This is what leadership looks like because it’s not partisan,” Hunter said. “I don’t like you. I would never vote for you. But I appreciate that you stood on business today.”
During the hearing, Tillis pressed Noem over the handling of the Minneapolis incident and the lack of transparency surrounding investigations.
“You’re putting us further away from pointing to this,” Tillis said during the exchange. “The way you’re going about deporting them is wrong. The fact that you can’t admit to a mistake… law enforcement needs to learn from that.”
Tillis argued that proper investigative procedures should be followed after officer-involved shootings.
“You don’t protect them by not looking after the facts,” he said. “Not only should the FBI be investigating it, but every single law enforcement agency in that jurisdiction should be invited.”
Hunter also noted that Tillis referenced controversial passages from Noem’s book, including an account of killing a young dog and a goat.
“You decided to kill that dog because you had not invested the appropriate time in training,” Tillis said. “And then you have the audacity to say it’s a leadership lesson.”
Hunter said the hearing demonstrated that Congress can exert pressure when it chooses.
“There’s stuff that could be done,” she said, noting Tillis’ threat to block nominations and deny quorum if answers were not provided. “Tom Tillis showed us the way.”
Watch the full clip below.
