Gov. Kristi Noem Confirms She Will ‘Not Be Challenging’ Thune After Trump Criticizes Him

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) is not interested in challenging Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) when he is up for re-election in 2022.

“ is a friend of mine, and I will not be challenging him. I’m honored to be Governor of South Dakota and will ask the people to give me an opportunity to continue serving them as Governor in 2022,” Noem tweeted on Tuesday.

Noem’s tweet came just hours after President Donald Trump attacked Thune on Twitter for his remarks regarding the president’s efforts to challenge the Electoral College vote, as IJR previously reported.

“Republicans in the Senate so quickly forget. Right now they would be down 8 seats without my backing them in the last Election. RINO 👤John Thune, ‘Mitch’s boy’, should just let it play out,” Trump wrote.

He added, “South Dakota doesn’t like weakness. He will be primaried in 2022, political career over!!!”

Thune recently told reporters any attempts made by Trump or other Republicans to overturn the election “would go down like a shot dog” in the Senate.

Noem previously warned Americans of the “consequences” of an electoral victory for President-elect Joe Biden ahead of the election, as IJR previously reported.

“When you have leaders overstep their authority in a time of crisis, that’s when you break this country,” Noem said. “And Joe Biden has said that he would shut this country down again. That is not an authority that he has, and I wouldn’t have been able to do my job the last seven, eight months in South Dakota if Joe Biden had been in the White House.”

She continued, “So, people need to think about the real consequences of what the media has done to drive fear into their homes, and to cause people to focus on emotions rather than the real-life consequences they’re going to face if they let this Joe Biden get into the presidency.”