South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem speaks about the successes of her state at CPAC 2024

Kristi Noem, South Dakota governor, spoke to attendees of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 23.  

Noem began her speech by introducing herself as a farmer and rancher who is “now blessed to be the 33rd governor of the great state of South Dakota.”  

She then spoke about the current state of the 2024 election and U.S. politics in general.  

“2024 should not be a year where we get caught up on party politics,” Noem said. “This election, the choice is clear. There are two kinds of people in this country right now. There are people who love America, and there are people who hate America.” 

Noem talked about her journey to becoming the first female governor of South Dakota.  

“It was normal for me to be one of the few women (in the room) and it was nothing out of the ordinary, but I remember the day I was actually being sworn in to the office as the first female governor of South Dakota,” Noem said. “Much of that ceremony that day was dedicated to the historical nature of that event. I was being sworn into office on the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote in our state.” 

Noem said that as the ceremony went on, she began to recognize how her role as the first female governor in her state could inspire young girls to be able to do the same in the future. She also recognized that the way she would run her state would greatly differ from many other states. 

“I think that each of you know a little bit about the decisions that I’ve made as governor of our state,” Noem said. “The last several years, we saw government leaders of other states try to control people … That has not been our story in South Dakota.” 

Noem also listed many of her successes of South Dakota since she took on the role of governor. 

“Today, South Dakota is thriving. Because of the decisions we’ve made in South Dakota, we broke the record for the lowest state unemployment rate in the United States of America at 1.8%. We have unprecedented population growth, historic revenues, a AAA credit rating, a fully funded pension system and we have paid off debts.”  

The United States was described by Noem as the “greatest experiment in humankind.” 

“If we lose it on our watch, where will we go?” Noem said. “Where is another country that is better or offers more opportunity? It just doesn’t exist.”  

According to Noem, it isn’t the government’s job to do everything for their people, but instead to empower people to do things for themselves.  

“Nobody turns to D.C. for the solutions,” Noem said. “Nothing meaningful gets accomplished here. It is governors who have had to lead, and I have seen governors make bad decisions and devastate their states, and we have seen governors who did the right thing.” 

The Liberty Champion will continue to provide continual coverage of CPAC 2024. 

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