The French government is disputing part of the governorship of South Dakota. A book by Kristi Noem Describes a canceled meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
A now-redacted passage on unconfirmed claims the Republican governor met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said a planned meeting between Noem and Macron last year was scrapped after he allegedly made “pro-Hamas” comments.
“While I was in Paris, I planned to meet French President Emmanuel Macron,” Noem wrote in his book, No Return..” “However, the day before our meeting, he made a statement to the press that I considered to be pro-Hamas and anti-Israel. So I decided to cancel it.”
A representative of the Elysee Palace disputed Noem’s account, saying there was no record of a planned meeting and no invitation had been sent to him.
Reached for comment on Friday, a Noem spokeswoman said “the governor has been invited to sit in President Macron’s box for the Peace Day Parade at the Arc de Triomphe.”
Ian Fury, the governor’s communications chief, said it “chose to cancel after his anti-Israel comments”, adding that Macron “has since been absent”.
Noem was in Paris to speak at the World Freedom Initiative conference in November 2023.
He did not say what Macron’s comments were in his book. Noem’s office pointed to Macron’s remarks on Friday when asked for details challengeEng Israel Stop bombing Gaza and call for a ceasefire. Macron also condemned Hamas, as well as its October 7 attack on Israel, and recognized “Israel’s right to defend itself and to respond.”
The disputed account is the latest in a series of controversies created by the book of Noah.
The governor, considered a potential candidate for the second term of former President Donald Trump, wrote that he met with the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, but later said that “he should not put this anecdote in the book.” His publisher said the link would be removed, however Noem bowed in interviews, he actually met Kim.
He also described how in his book shot and killed the family’s 14-month-old dog. I have Noah defended many times citing its actions as dog aggression, noting that it was a “working dog” and “not a small one.”
Trump responded to the backlash against Noem in an interview this week.
“He’s had a tough few days,” she said Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin. “I will say that.”