'I Didn't Shoot My Dog': Mitt Romney Resents Being Compared To Kristi Noem

WASHINGTON ― Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) slammed South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem ® for shooting her dog and rejected comparisons to his own canine controversy during the 2012 presidential campaign.

“I guess it kind of makes it a little difficult for President Trump to find someone to be his [vice president]. He has to look for someone smarter than him, [a] better speaker than him and, like him, does not get burdened with principles,” Romney told HuffPost on Tuesday.

The Utah senator also pushed back on the notion that Noem’s “tale of slaughter” in her upcoming political memoir is anything like him being criticized for tying his dog Seamus to the roof of the family car during a cross-country trip, an account that polarized a lot of voters during the campaign.

“I didn’t eat my dog. I didn’t shoot my dog. I loved my dog, and my dog loved me,” Romney said.

In her new book, Noem shares an anecdote from 20 years ago in which she shot a 14-month-old wirehaired pointer named Cricket, according to an advance copy obtained by The Guardian. The governor, who has been mentioned as a possible Trump running mate, recalled that she “hated” Cricket, describing the dog as “untrainable,” “dangerous” and “less than worthless… as a hunting dog.”

“It was not a pleasant job,” she wrote of her decision to shoot the dog at a gravel pit on her ranch. “But it had to be done.”

Despite facing days of withering criticism over the story, including her quixotic decision to share it in a memoir, Noem <a href=«https://was» being a responsible parent dog owner and neighbor. target="_blank" class=" js-entry-link cet-internal-link" data-vars-subunit-name=«article_body» data-vars-subunit-type=«component» data-vars-position-in-subunit=«2»>defended