Noem sucker punches South Dakota dentists

Gov. Kristi Noem is interviewed by J.P. Skelly, a local radio news director, during a bill-signing ceremony and town hall meeting on March 13, 2024, in Mitchell. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

Sporting her new pearly artificial Texas smile, Gov. Kristi Noem this week punched South Dakota dentists in the teeth and ended up in court.

Her video infomercial promoting her flight to Texas to obtain a mouthful of perfect teeth has been described as “bizarre” and “very weird.” Supporters and critics alike are aghast at her poor judgment.

They’re also wondering if she has violated ethics rules. On Wednesday, the consumer advocacy group Travelers United said it sued Noem for “the lack of advertising disclosure” as required by the Federal Trade Commission.

The nearly five-minute video that garnered worldwide media attention was first posted to Noem’s social media late Monday night.

She tells her story of flying twice to Texas to obtain her new teeth because of problems lingering from a long-ago bicycle accident, and because she thought her appearance was a detriment to her ability to communicate. Why Texas?

“I chose the team here at Smile Texas because they are the best,” she said.

Apparently none of South Dakota’s numerous skilled implant dentists are good enough to provide the American Legislative Exchange Council’s 2021 best governor in the nation with teeth to match her stature.

Wait, isn’t this the governor who just recently posed as a dental hygienist in a Freedom Works Here advertisement recruiting people to move here?

Isn’t she also regularly telling the nation how South Dakota is the best in so many ways?

“Our state has become the number one state for individuals, families, and businesses to build the American Dream,” she said in her 2023 State of the State Address. “We are number one in the nation for personal income growth over the past several years. That is how South Dakotans build the American Dream by working hard and earning more than they have before.”

But South Dakota’s dentists just don’t quite make her grade.

It’s not only the state’s dentists who were insulted by her words, but everyone who lives with imperfect teeth. One glance at photos of other politicians reveals that many of them have imperfections in their smile.

Are they less effective communicators because of a crooked tooth?

Gov. Noem believes her teeth distracted from her message.

“I want when people look at me to hear the words that I say and not be distracted by something that I am wearing or how I look or even my appearance,” she said in the video. “I want them to focus on my thoughts and my ideas and what we can do to really make this country better.

“So, for me to have a confident smile and have my teeth be something that is not a distraction but actually is appealing to people will be helpful because I think that it will make sure that we are focused on really the right points that I want to make and make sure that that confidence shines through.”

The governor also believes that only a perfect smile allows people to see that she is genuine. Now that the dental work is complete, “They can actually appreciate and see the kindness in my face and see the love that I have for them.”

Really, governor? Did you need to expose yourself and South Dakota to Travel United’s allegations of deceptive advertising and ethical lapses?

“Someone with a very busy job does not take time off of that job to make a free advertisement for medical services in another state. There are many dentists and cosmetic dentists in South Dakota,” the Travel United lawsuit said.

“No one with an extremely important job in South Dakota would fly to Texas to receive dental treatment and then sit in that office and film an advertisement without some form of compensation,” the suit continued.

So, Travelers United, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, demands a jury trial, damages, legal fees and asks that Noem be permanently stopped “from advertising on social media without disclosing that she is advertising.”

For Noem, however, it’s probably just bold strategy.

She elevated herself to the top of the week’s news cycle just when Donald Trump clinched enough delegates to become the Republican nominee for president.

Noem is on Trump’s short list for vice president, and as Noem said in the infomercial, “People’s first impressions of you are important.”

Perfect teeth and lawsuits – what more qualifications do you need?

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