The Drama Between Margaret Brennan & Kristi Noem, Explained

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem's memoir "No Going Back" wasn't just notorious for its controversial content. The book's press tour also incited some drama between Noem and CBS News journalist Margaret Brennan, who, along with Norah O'Donnell, will be moderating the vice presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance.

Noem's interview on Brennan's show "Face the Nation" was tense at many points. When Brennan asked about a passage in the book where Noem said she met North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, Noem said that wasn't meant to be in the book and had been edited out of the final draft without clearly saying if it was true or false. Brennan asked for clarification and said, "So, you did not meet with Kim Jong Un? That's what you're saying." Noem replied, "No, I've met with many, many world leaders, many world leaders." She repeated how that story had been edited out. Noem later said she was in the demilitarized zone between South Korea and North Korea, but Brennan still wanted clarification on how the story about North Korea's leader ended up in the first draft of the book when it wasn't supposed to. 

Later in the conversation, Noem said, "Why am I being treated differently than every other person that you've interviewed?" and claimed Brennan was interrupting her in a way she didn't with other guests. As the interview continued, the women continued talking over each other at multiple points, and Noem also accused Brennan of being part of the media that was harsh to her during COVID-19. Brennan disagreed and they interrupted each other a few more times until the interview ended. Noem later took to social media to complain about her "Face the Nation" appearance, specifying how many times Brennan allegedly interrupted her.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, Kristi Noem said, "This morning in our 15-minute interview, Margaret Brennan interrupted me 36 times — once every 25 seconds on average." She went on to say how Democrats on the show don't get interrupted and added, "In the fake news media, there are two sets of rules, and conservative are always treated differently. That's why Americans don't trust the Fake News."

However, many of the X users who replied to Noem's tweet did not have sympathy for the governor, pointing out how if she told the truth she would not be interrupted. One user said, "We all watched the interview, and you were not rudely interrupted, but you did lie an awful lot." They added a snarky comment about the anecdote from Noem's memoir that presumably got her taken off Donald Trump's VP wish list. 

Noem, who once gave Trump a strange gift, also complained about her interview with Brennan on "The Brian Kilmeade Show" from Fox News Radio, calling it "an attack" (via Fox News). Noem later said, "I gave her my answer. She didn't like my answer. So she kept trying to bully me into saying something different. But the truth is the truth." After Brennan's interview with Noem aired, it didn't seem like Brennan followed up with any statement about it or about Noem's criticism.