Latest news with #NoGoingBack:TheTruthonWhat'sWrongwithPoliticsandHowWeMoveAmericaForward
Metro
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
South Park's latest savage Trump takedown scores 6,200,000 viewers in days
South Park season 27 returned for a second episode that again did not pull punches when covering the Donald Trump administration – and saw millions tune in. The target of Trey Parker and Matt Stone's satire the second time around was largely Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, 53, as well as Vice President JD Vance, 41. The episode, Got A Nut, featured Noem shooting dogs dead, when she's not imprisoning immigrants through the government's ICE programme. It's now been confirmed that the episode out-performed the season opener in its first three days, averaging 6.2million global viewers across Paramount+ and Comedy Central. The episode scored the highest South Park linear ratings since 2018, according to Variety. It comes after the season's premiere episode caused an almighty stir over its depiction of President Donald Trump as a litigious sex pest who was in a relationship with Satan – this storyline also continued into the second episode – displaying cartoon depictions of his nude body several times. Noem has now been given similarly scathing treatment on the show, as a bulletproof vest-clad animated version of her in seen pursuing Dora the Explorer, while the episode also riffs on the former South Dakota governor's 2024 admission that she once killed her own dog. In her book (deep breath) No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward, Noem detailed killing her wirehaired pointer Cricket one day during hunting season and used the account to show her willingness to do things that are 'difficult, messy and ugly' in politics. South Park's animated Noem says in the episode: 'A few years ago I had to put my puppy down by shooting it in the face, because sometimes doing what's important means doing what's hard.' Noem is also portrayed as heavily Botoxed, with her facial features often inadvertently drooping downwards. In one scene from the long-running no-holds-barred comedy, her face starts to crawl around the floors of Trump's Mar-a-Lago home. (Yes, really.) When Metro contacted the US Homeland Security for comment regarding the episode, assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin told us in a statement: 'We want to thank South Park for drawing attention to ICE law enforcement recruitment.' Noem is the eighth person to hold her position at Homeland Security and was previously South Dakota's first ever female governor. On the Homeland Security website she is described as: 'A South Dakota native, Secretary Noem is a rancher, farmer, small business owner, and proud mother and grandmother.' Dubbed 'ICE Barbie', she has defended US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and has carried out Trump's hardline immigration agenda. The 53-year-old was a strong contender to be named as Trump's running mate in last year's US election, before Vance took the spot. This was around the time that Noem was sued by a consumer advocacy group for promoting a cosmetic dental company who she said had fixed her teeth, without disclosing she had a financial relationship with the company. McLaughlin's statement then urged 'patriotic' watchers of the show to join ICE and help deport people from the country, listing a number of benefits. Also featured is Vice President JD Vance as a small manbaby with a memified inflated face, towed along in cut-out Trump's wake as the President insults and belittles him. At one point, Trump kicks small-sized Vance off screen, as if he were a football. The new episode aired after the official Homeland Security X account posted a screenshot from the South Park teaser, using it as a recruitment advertisement with a link to join the law enforcement agency. The official South Park X account responded to the post, asking: 'Wait, so we ARE relevant?' Their reply referenced the White House's response to the first episode of this season, in which they claimed the show was 'fourth-rate' and no longer had any cultural capital. South Park fans would beg to differ, as many took to social media to hail the second episode as an instant classic. @mmpadellan posted a series of fire emojis, declaring: 'These guys are NOT holding back.' More Trending @harpforcongress added: 'I have been watching South Park since 1997. I have never seen them bury someone the way they buried Kristi Noem tonight. Trey and Matt are laser focused on the entire GOP. Buckle Up!' 'South Park truly never misses! Thank you Matt Stone & Trey Parker!!!' wrote @TheAliaLink. A version of this article was originally published on August 8. View More » South Park season 27 episode 2 is available on Paramount+ in the UK. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Trump's honours list includes a British 70s sitcom actor you may have forgotten MORE: The five banned South Park that are too offensive for streaming MORE: Five things we learned from Trump's meeting with Zelensky ahead of Putin summit
USA Today
07-08-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Did Kristi Noem shoot a dog?
If you've watched the latest episode of South Park -- "Get a Nut," the second ep of Season 27 that aired on Wednesday -- you know that A LOT of people and things got skewered, from Donald Trump to ICE. That included the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who was the focus for much of the episode. The running joke throughout is that Noem continually shoots and kills dogs, including Superman's pup Krypto. So if you're here, you might be wondering what the deal is with that running joke. Is there something in Noem's history that led to that joke? We're here to help. Did Kristi Noem shoot a dog? Back in 2024, in a book she wrote then called "No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward," she talked about how she had to kill her dog Cricket. Per The Guardian, here's what happened: She took cricket pheasant hunting with some older dogs, hoping the younger pup would learn from them. Here's more (WARNING: This gets graphic): Noem describes calling Cricket, then using an electronic collar to attempt to bring her under control. Nothing worked. Then, on the way home after the hunt, as Noem stopped to talk to a local family, Cricket escaped Noem's truck and attacked the family's chickens, 'grabb[ing] one chicken at a time, crunching it to death with one bite, then dropping it to attack another'. Cricket the untrainable dog, Noem writes, behaved like 'a trained assassin'. When Noem finally grabbed Cricket, she says, the dog 'whipped around to bite me'. Then, as the chickens' owner wept, Noem repeatedly apologised, wrote the shocked family a check 'for the price they asked, and helped them dispose of the carcasses littering the scene of the crime'. Then? She wrote, "I realised I had to put her down.' What did Kristi Noem say about the dog killing controversy? She addressed on X (formerly Twitter): And there was another statement, via ABC: "The fact is, South Dakota law states that dogs who attack and kill livestock can be put down. Given that Cricket had shown aggressive behavior toward people by biting them, I decided what I did," she wrote. "Whether running the ranch or in politics, I have never passed on my responsibilities to anyone else to handle. Even if it's hard and painful," Noem wrote. "I followed the law and was being a responsible parent, dog owner, and neighbor."
Metro
07-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
South Park 'not holding back' as more of Trump's administration get taken down
South Park season 27 has returned for a second episode that once again did not pull its punches when covering the Donald Trump administration. The target of Trey Parker and Matt Stone's satire this time around was largely Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, 53, as well as Vice President JD Vance, 41. The latest episode, Got A Nut, featured Noem shooting dogs dead, when she's not imprisoning immigrants through the government's ICE programme. It comes after the season's premiere episode caused an almighty stir over its depiction of President Donald Trump as a litigious sex pest who was in a relationship with Satan – this storyline also continued into the second episode – displaying cartoon depictions of his nude body several times. Noem has now been given similarly scathing treatment on the show, as a bulletproof vest-clad animated version of her in seen pursuing Dora the Explorer, while the episode also riffs on the former South Dakota governor's 2024 admission that she once killed her own dog. In her book (deep breath) No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward, Noem detailed killing her wirehaired pointer Cricket one day during hunting season and used the account to show her willingness to do things that are 'difficult, messy and ugly' in politics. South Park's animated Noem says in the episode: 'A few years ago I had to put my puppy down by shooting it in the face, because sometimes doing what's important means doing what's hard.' Noem is also portrayed as heavily Botoxed, with her facial features often inadvertently drooping downwards. In one scene from the long-running no-holds-barred comedy, her face starts to crawl around the floors of Trump's Mar-a-Lago home. (Yes, really.) Noem is the eighth person to hold her position at Homeland Security and was previously South Dakota's first ever female governor. On the Homeland Security website she is described as: 'A South Dakota native, Secretary Noem is a rancher, farmer, small business owner, and proud mother and grandmother.' Dubbed 'ICE Barbie', she has defended US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and has carried out Trump's hardline immigration agenda. The 53-year-old was a strong contender to be named as Trump's running mate in last year's US election, before Vance took the spot. This was around the time that Noem was sued by a consumer advocacy group for promoting a cosmetic dental company who she said had fixed her teeth, without disclosing she had a financial relationship with the company. Also featured is Vice President JD Vance as a small manbaby with a memified inflated face, towed along in cut-out Trump's wake as the President insults and belittles him. At one point, Trump kicks small-sized Vance off screen, as if he were a football. The new episode aired after the official Homeland Security X account posted a screenshot from the South Park teaser, using it as a recruitment advertisement with a link to join the law enforcement agency. The official South Park X account responded to the post, asking: 'Wait, so we ARE relevant?' Their reply referenced the White House's response to the first episode of this season, in which they claimed the show was 'fourth-rate' and no longer had any cultural capital. South Park fans would beg to differ, as many took to social media to hail the second episode as an instant classic. @mmpadellan posted a series of fire emojis, declaring: 'These guys are NOT holding back.' More Trending @harpforcongress added: 'I have been watching South Park since 1997. I have never seen them bury someone the way they buried Kristi Noem tonight. Trey and Matt are laser focused on the entire GOP. Buckle Up!' 'South Park truly never misses! Thank you Matt Stone & Trey Parker!!!' wrote @TheAliaLink. View More » Metro contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment on this article. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: I was ordered out of a swimming pool just for being a nanny – my whole body was shaking MORE: Trump and Putin to meet 'in the coming days' but who knows if Zelensky is going MORE: The 'Land of the free' just became land of the $15,000 fee
Irish Daily Star
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Daily Star
'No one should be surprised Kristi Noem is vile - this is a woman who shot her own dog'
Every week, I tell myself Donald Trump's cabinet can't possibly sink any lower — and every week, I'm proven wrong. Then I remember the kind of people Trump chose to surround himself with. People like Kristi Noem . Kristi Noem just told legal U.S. citizens — people who have every right to be here — to 'go home' if they were afraid of getting arrested by ICE . These are individuals who hadn't broken any laws. But that didn't matter to Noem. In her view, if you're scared, you must be guilty. Even worse, she lumped legal migrants in with gang members, drug cartels, and even terrorists. Her actual words : 'Go home before you get picked up… don't hang out with gang members, cartel members. Don't be part of a terrorist organization. If you're a good person, you shouldn't be breaking our laws; you should self-deport. If they self-deport, we'll give them a plane ticket.' Read More Related Articles Four urgent signs Donald Trump has a specific type of dementia expert warns Read More Related Articles Rambling Trump tariff video sparks concerns over 'significant cognitive issues' It was a dangerous message, cloaked in racism and contempt. Maybe Noem didn't realize how vile her words sounded, but I did. KERRVILLE, TEXAS - JULY 11: Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem participates in a round table event with President Donald Trump at the Hill Country Youth Event Center to discuss last week's flash flooding on July 11, 2025 in Kerrville, Texas. Trump traveled to Texas one week after flash flooding along the Guadalupe River swept through cities, mobile home parks and summer camps, killing 120 people. Ninety-six of those killed were in Kerr County, where the toll includes at least 36 children. (Photo by) For a second, I was stunned. But only for a second. Then I remembered exactly who Kristi Noem is. She's the same woman who proudly bragged in her memoir about shooting and killing her 14-month-old dog and her goat on the same day. In what she framed as an example of her willingness to do whatever it takes—no matter how 'difficult, messy, or ugly'—Kristi Noem admitted in her memoir that she shot and killed her own 14-month-old dog. But this wasn't an act of grit or responsibility, instead, a disturbing display of cruelty, wrapped in political theater and justified with warped notions of loyalty and leadership. In her book No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward, Noem recounted her brief ownership of a young female dog named Cricket. Originally intended to be trained as a hunting dog, Cricket was, by Noem's own account, 'untrainable'. She said she 'hated' Cricket. Noem described an early hunting outing where the puppy—barely over a year old and with no formal training—acted like a typical, energetic dog: chasing birds, running around, and enjoying the outdoors. Instead of recognizing this behavior as normal, Noem cast Cricket as a menace, writing that she was 'out of her mind with excitement,' as if joy in a dog were something to be punished. Later, after Cricket killed some chickens, Noem described the dog as 'the picture of pure joy'—again portraying an untrained animal behaving instinctively as a bloodthirsty predator. She even called the young dog a 'trained assassin,' a grotesque exaggeration for a puppy who had never stood a chance under her care. Noem goes on to claim that Cricket tried to bite her and labelled the dog 'dangerous' and 'worthless.' Her conclusion? The dog had to die. She said she took Cricket to a gravel pit and shot her. 'It had to be done,' she wrote—coldly, without remorse. But the story doesn't end there. Noem then shared how she also killed a male goat that belonged to her family. Her reasoning? The goat smelled bad, chased her children, and ruined their clothes. Rather than rehome or contain the animal, Noem dragged it to the same gravel pit and shot it. When the goat survived the first shot, she went back to her truck, grabbed another shell, and finished the job. A nearby construction crew witnessed the entire scene—Noem killing two animals in cold blood, then calmly greeting her children as they came home from school. Her daughter, unaware of what had just happened, looked around and asked, 'Hey, where's Cricket?' For all the latest news straight to your inbox, sign up for our FREE newsletters here . Noem ended the story with a chilling reflection: 'I guess if I were a better politician I wouldn't tell the story here.' She seems to believe this gruesome anecdote proves her toughness. Instead, it exposes something far more troubling—her comfort with violence, her disregard for life, and her eagerness to turn cruelty into a political virtue. For the latest local news and features on Irish America, visit our homepage here .
