Newsom Brutally Trolls Trump’s Puppy-Killing Cabinet Member

Gavin Newsom is taking aim at a familiar target: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

The California governor’s press office shared a brutal illustration on X Thursday, depicting a woman holding a gun to a dog’s head with the caption, “Kristi Noem’s Dog Obedience School: She’ll Treat Them As Good As She Treats Brown People.”

The Daily Beast has contacted Newsom and Noem for comment.

Sign up today! pic.twitter.com/O2cp0JB4xk

— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) November 13, 2025

The illustration was a satirical reference to Noem’s 2024 memoir, No Going Back, in which the former South Dakota governor admitted to shooting and killing her family’s dog, Cricket, 20 years earlier.

In a particularly gory chapter, Noem describes luring Cricket into a ditch and fatally shooting her. She then killed one of her family’s goats in the same manner, all in the minutes before her children returned home from school.

According to the DHS Secretary, shooting the pet was necessary because she realized Cricket was “untrainable” and “less than worthless” after the dog attacked a neighboring family’s chickens.

The 2024 revelation reportedly killed Noem’s chances at being named President Trump’s running mate, a role for which she was once considered the frontrunner.

Vice President JD Vance later said, without naming Noem, that he believes “If you mistreat dogs, that’s almost a hundred percent sign that you’re gonna be a really terrible person.”

Kristi Noem in Portland — Newsom nicknamed the DHS Secretary “Kosplay Kristi” as a reference to her frequent photo ops while visiting ICE facilities. Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images

Newsom’s tweet was also a reference to his ongoing battle with the Trump administration over ICE conduct in California.

The governor’s press office has repeatedly trolled administration officials for sending the National Guard into major cities like Los Angeles, Portland, and Chicago, and dubbed Noem “Kosplay Kristi” over her frequent photo ops at ICE facilities.

Newsom’s feud with the Trump administration ramped up earlier on Thursday, when the governor’s former chief of staff was arrested and charged with multiple counts of bank and wire fraud. Dana Williamson is accused of plotting to skim $225,000 from a campaign fund.

Newsom put Williamson on leave in November 2024, after learning she was under investigation by the FBI, Politico reports. She left his office permanently in December.

Newsom’s press office doubled down on the cartoon when challenged by X users on Thursday. In response to one user, who wrote, “Mocking animal cruelty isn’t funny,” the account tweeted, “dude, she’s a self-admitted puppy-killer.”

dude, she’s a self-admitted puppy killer

— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) November 13, 2025

However, Noem has repeatedly defended her decision to shoot Cricket. “I absolutely love animals, I’ve always had dogs, I still have a dog that goes everywhere with me, and that situation there was hard,” she told the New York Post’s “Pod Force One” podcast in September.

“I don’t ask anybody else to take on my responsibilities for me,” said Noem. “I knew that if I had to take responsibility and do something for that situation to keep people safe, then I would do it myself and not ask anybody else to do my job.”

The post Newsom Brutally Trolls Trump’s Puppy-Killing Cabinet Member appeared first on The Daily Beast.

Newsom Brutally Trolls Trump’s Puppy-Killing Cabinet Member

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