Politics

‘This Is How We Do Social Distancing’: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem Posts Video Of Herself Shooting Bird

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Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem posted a video Wednesday to Twitter of herself shooting a bird in a cornfield.

“This is how we do social distancing in South Dakota,” Noem tweeted above the video.

WATCH:

“I’m Kristi Noem, governor of South Dakota,” she said. “This is how we do social distancing in our state.”

The South Dakota governor turned and shot at a bird three times, hitting it on the third attempt, then turned and said, “Less COVID, more hunting. That’s the plan for the future.”

Noem has been a source of both praise and criticism for her decision to avoid lockdowns and statewide masking mandates in South Dakota in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The state made headlines after a large outbreak at a Sioux Falls pork processing plan early in the pandemic, but cases fell flat for several months before a late-August uptick of between 200 and 400 cases per day. However, South Dakota has recorded only 202 deaths with no more than eight on a single day since the pandemic began. (RELATED: ‘I Believe In Our Freedoms And Liberties’: South Dakota Governor Responds To Critics Of State’s Coronavirus Response)

Many took issue with Noem after one study linked over 265,000 cases to a 10-day motorcycle rally in Sturgiss, but the governor and state health officials decried the model-based study as “fiction.”