Kristi Noem's own handpicked replacement called her out without even knowing it

For yet another reminder of what a poor job Kristi Noem is doing, just ask her handpicked replacement as governor of South Dakota.

Not directly, mind you. Larry Rhoden will defend her to the hilt if asked about her by name.

But ask him indirectly, or just let him talk awhile, and he’ll criticize her actions without even realizing he’s doing it.

That happened often during the beginning of his tenure as governor, when he spoke repeatedly about the need for a “reset” on nearly every important issue in the state, even while claiming Noem did a wonderful job as his predecessor.

Another prime example popped up Thursday during a news conference at the South Dakota Capitol in Pierre.

A reporter asked Rhoden about nationwide criticism of Noem’s response to fatal shootings in Minneapolis. The federal agents who fired the guns work for Noem, who leads the Department of Homeland Security, which has been conducting immigration enforcement activities with thousands of agents in Minneapolis for weeks.

Rhoden, who ascended from lieutenant governor to governor last year when Noem got her new job, said the two of them still communicate via text messages.

“I’ve tried to encourage her because I know she’s got a tough, tough job,” Rhoden said. “And I still think she’s up to the task.”

Moments later, another reporter told Rhoden about comments from South Dakota Democratic legislative leaders. They expressed disappointment about the silence from Republican leaders regarding the most recent fatal shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis, who took the life of 37-year-old Alex Pretti.

Asked if he wanted to comment on Pretti’s death, Rhoden answered: “I don’t.”

Five or so awkward seconds of silence passed after that, and Rhoden’s press secretary tried to end the press conference. But Rhoden interjected, “Let me just clarify a little bit with that.”

“There’s all kinds of information that I am not aware of, so why would I make a comment basing my opinion with no grounding in fact?” Rhoden said, in part. “And I think that’s a big part of the problem that we face in some of these issues is people jumping to conclusions and then standing their ground and making absurd statements based on conjecture.”

So, in other words, exactly what Noem did.

Within hours of Pretti’s death, Noem went to a podium and proclaimed, “This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.”

She also said Pretti committed “an act of domestic terrorism.”

Many of us have seen the bystander videos, which show Pretti carrying a cellphone and attempting to assist someone who was pushed down by federal agents. Those agents then wrestled Pretti to the ground. The videos appear to show an agent removing a handgun — which Pretti had a permit to carry — from Pretti’s hip just before other agents opened fire.

Rhoden is exactly right. To come out within hours of Pretti’s death, before all the facts were known, and proclaim him a domestic terrorist intent on killing law enforcement was irresponsible.

So is Rhoden’s blind defense of Noem, even as he seems to recognize on some level that her actions are antithetical to his own values.

• Seth is editor-in-chief of South Dakota Searchlight. He was previously a supervising senior producer for South Dakota Public Broadcasting and a newspaper journalist in Rapid City and Mitchell. South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.