The Daily Signal - Gov. Kristi Noem Talks Biden Picking Woman for Supreme Court, Women's Sports

Episode Date: January 28, 2022

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem criticized President Joe Biden Thursday for his decision to pick a Supreme Court justice based on race and gender.  “I think that's very unfortunate that he chose that approach,” the Republican governor said in a Thursday interview with The Daily Signal. “It almost divides people based on what they look like and their background, rather than just who's the best person for the job?” Noem also talks about why the new bill protecting women's sports she introduced. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Friday, January 28th. I'm Virginia Allen. And I'm Mary Margaret O'Lahan. With Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization at the Supreme Court and last week's March for Life on the anniversary of Roeby Wade, we are hearing a ton about the future of abortion in the United States. Yesterday I had the opportunity to chat with South Dakota Governor Christy Noam about legislation that she is introduced to protect both babies and women in the state of South

Dakota. But before we get to Mary Margaret's conversation with Governor Christy Noem, let's hit our top news stories of the day. President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that he'll be nominating a black woman to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court, and he's planning to choose a nominee before the end of February. Biden promised that he will consult with leading senators on both sides of the aisle, as well as legal scholars and Vice President Kamala Harris. The person he nominates will also have extraordinary qualifications, character, experience, and integrity, Biden said. Here's what else he had to say via NBC News.

A person I will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience, and integrity. And that person will be the first black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court. It's long overdue in my view. Breyer, who is President Biden's announcement, Officially confirmed Thursday that he's going to retire from the Supreme Court after the court's current term concludes this summer and after the Senate confirms his replacement. The Commerce Department of the federal government plans to keep a record of all its employees who have a medical exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine.

The new rule was placed on the Federal Register earlier this week and was first reported by the Daily Signal. The proposed rule is being introduced at the same time the Biden administration is considering keeping a list of all federal employees who have a religious exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine. Many Republican lawmakers are now speaking out in opposition to the government tracking medical and religious exemptions to the vaccine. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told the Daily Signal that these pointless vaccine mandates are a direct violation of the personal freedom of Americans. House Freedom Caucus Chairman Representative Andy Biggs has been clear that he thinks keeping a list of federal workers who have not received the vaccine is a violation of personal freedom. Biggs told the Daily Signal that the Biden administration must allow individual Americans to make their own health care. decisions regardless of COVID-19. Here in Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser has mandated that restaurants and business owners

must ask their patrons to show proof of vaccination. If restaurants are caught violating this mandate, they will be fined and punished. The Daily Signal spoke with Junction restaurant owner Noe Landini, who owns multiple restaurants in both D.C. and in Virginia, torn between desires to respect all his customers and to keep his restaurants afloat, Landini pleads for people. patients and understanding that mandates are not as simple as they seem. While his D.C. locations have lost both customers and business throughout the pandemic, Landini said that his Virginia locations have thrived.

Our Virginia locations have thrived, have done so well. We have people that wear masks. We have people that don't wear masks. We don't have to check for vaccination. We're able to pay our bills in Virginia. And all of our staff and our teammates have the livelihoods they had pre-COVID in Virginia. You can't say the same for D.C. restaurants. Now stay tuned for my conversation with South Dakota Governor Christy Noam.

Hi, I'm Virginia Allen. I want to tell you all about an awesome Heritage Foundation resource called the Index of Economic Freedom. The Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom ranks nearly every nation in the world according to its level of economic freedom. Whether for personal, professional use, or for school research, the index is a wealth of. information. You can learn why it's easier to start a business in Switzerland than it is in France and where America falls on the ranking. So go ahead and visit heritage.org slash index to explore the newly released 2021 Index of Economic Freedom, which features interactive maps, country rankings, graphs of data, and much, much more. My guest today is Christy Noam, the Republican governor of South Dakota. Governor Noam, thank you so much for joining us today.

Oh, absolutely. Thank you for inviting me to be with. you. How are things going in the great state of South Dakota? We're doing really good. We're in the middle of our legislative session and it has been very busy. We've got the number one economy in the country, so we've got a lot of revenue and growth in what we're dealing with and people moving into our state, businesses coming here and expanding. So that means a lot of decisions to make about the path forward. So it's been exciting times in South Dakota, but yet so recognizing that with growth comes some challenges and how you really do that in a smart way.

Well, one of the reasons I was so excited to chat with you today is this new pro-life legislation that you introduced, I believe the same day as the March for Life. Can you give us a breakdown of this legislation? I have two different bills that I'm bringing this year that are pro-life pieces that we will be championing. There's a regulation that came out of the federal government earlier this year that talked about telemedicine abortions.

And I did an executive order that ensured that nowhere in South Dakota did telemedicine abortions would be available for individuals. When you talk about these types of chemical abortions, they're very dangerous for women, in fact. They're four times more likely to end up in an emergency room if they utilize this kind of treatment or procedure to have an abortion. So what I'm bringing forward for one of my priorities this session is to put that in statute to ensure that a woman or even a young girl can't go online or pick up the phone and call

and get a pill sent to them in the mail that allows them to have an abortion without supervision. We just need to protect our women from those types of dangerous procedures and at the same time protect that little life inside of them as well. The second bill I'm bringing is a bill that we are calling the heartbeat bill. It's much like the Texas legislation that was passed earlier last year, but it would ensure that once a heartbeat is detected, that an abortion would not be performed after that point in time here in South Dakota. So we've got some policies there that would ensure that those lives are prioritized

and that we're making sure that the vast majority, of abortions that happen in the state of South Dakota would not, should that be signed into law. And like you were saying, these telemedicine abortions or these abortion drugs, we know that there are a lot of different dangerous possibilities that accompany them. But the Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union sued you over this and a federal judge on Wednesday appears to have halted this order from taking effect. What are your thoughts on that? You know, they did, but we'll wait for that litigation to, work its way through. In the meantime, we're still going to move forward with a bill that keeps the

penalties in place and, you know, consider as soon as that is resolved that we'll follow through with the rest of the provisions that we're proposing to go and protect these women. So it's incredibly important that people have all the information they need when they make decisions like this. So many times we hear people that are in favor of abortions talk about having the right to make that decision between them and their doctors. But by promoting telemedicine abortion and chemical abortions, they're literally saying it's okay for a woman to make this decision with any stranger. They can find on the internet or reach on the phone. And it's not a safe procedure. It would make it incredibly easy for our young 12, 13, 14-year-old girls to go through a very dangerous procedure with no

medical supervision whatsoever. And it's important that South Dakota protects them in this instance. And this isn't the first time that you've introduced pro-life legislation like this. Do you get a lot of pushback? And how do the people of South Dakota feel about pro-life laws? Well, when I ran for governor, I talked about the fact that I wanted to be the most pro-life governor in the country and talked about it consistently on the campaign trail. So people knew exactly what kind of a governor they would be getting should they vote for me. As soon as I was sworn into office, I put someone in my governor's office that part of their job description was to be the unborn child advocate to get up every single day and look

for opportunities to protect life, whether it be in statute or in case law or in regulation, that that would be a priority for me and for that individual to stay aggressive. And so we brought many pieces of legislation that have successfully passed. Since I've been governor last session, we brought forward eight different bills that were all signed into law. And these two bills are building on that momentum. But we also have an opportunity in front of the Supreme Court. You know, there's a discussion going on with the Dobbs case, which the Supreme Court will be making a decision on here soon. But the next challenge that will likely reach that level is the

Planned Parenthood versus Nome bill. And that is litigation that we've been involved in for many years, that we're hopeful that should Dobbs not completely tear down Roe v. Wade, that the next opportunity will be because of a bill that South Dakota has been working on for quite some time. That's really interesting. So what does, for you, if Roe v. Wade is overturned, what does look like in South Dakota? Well, for us, it's fantastic. It means that finally, every life is equal and valued, and we would move to protect every single life and eliminate abortion from the state of South Dakota. You know, the decision that's coming out of the Supreme Court, we feel, would leave this decision to the states if it goes our way. And South Dakota has long

been filled with people who recognize the value of life in the womb. And I believe that that's something the people here would get behind. And while we're talking about the Supreme Court, we have this timely news from yesterday that President Joe Biden is talking about picking a black Supreme Court justice that's a woman to replace Justice Breyer. What do you make of this? Should he be choosing a candidate based on gender or on race? No, I think that's a very,

unfortunate that he chose that approach. It almost divides people based on what they look like in their background rather than just who's the best person for the job. I've worked my entire life in different roles and jobs. Many of them, you know, a men's profession such as farming and ranching and running a hunting lodge. I appreciate the fact that I was raised in a house where it didn't matter what color my skin was, what sex I was.

that didn't matter, you know, what mattered was, you know, working hard and doing the best job I possibly could do. And that's what I would hope our president would use as qualifications for choosing justices on the Supreme Court as well. And ones who certainly want to uphold the Constitution, who love America, that recognize that their position in the high court is, you know, not to make law. It is strictly to enforce the integrity of this country. Right.

I love the concept of working really hard and knowing that you earned your position that you're in, and it's not because of your grace or your gender. It seems that you're exactly right. And you are a testament to this. You're telling us that you have all this experience in your own life working so hard to get where you are. So as a woman, the governor of South Dakota, in such a lofty position, Do you take issue with people who say that we should be promoting women based on their gender? I do.

I think it's wonderful for women to have opportunities. I want them to have a level playing field. I want them to be treated fairly. But I've never once asked for them to get special treatment or myself. I think that one of the great equalizers in this country is opportunity, and it should be open to everybody. Well, right along this topic, I would love to also. talk about your legislation protecting women's sports. And I know you received plenty of backlash a couple months ago or so when you pushed back against HB1217. And now you have all these different

bills protecting women's sports. What makes this new legislation different from the original legislation that we talked about? Can you walk us through it? Mm-hmm. So the original bill that was given to me, put on my desk by the legislature last year, was deeply flawed. In fact, In fact, it would have immediately ended up in court and been enjoined, and I wouldn't have been able to enforce only girls playing in girls' sports at all. We signed that legislation and put it into statute. So that day I made recommendations to the legislature, asked them to fix the flaws and sent it back to them.

They chose not to do that, and the bill died. So I signed two executive orders immediately that protected girls' sports at the K-12 level and then also at the college level and said that when we got back into legislative session, that I would be bringing the strongest bill in the country to put it into our statutes. And so that is what we're doing this year. We have a bill that I and my team have drafted

that is very strong, keeps that protection in place that my emergency declaration, my executive orders did, and it'll ensure that only girls playing girls' sports here in South Dakota. And I think it's incredibly important that we give these individuals, these girls' fairness and a level playing field to where they can compete and be successful and have the chance to go to college, perhaps earn a scholarship or even play professional sports if they would like to. Right. And I hear this legislation might be headed for your desk today, right? Well, it's possible. I know that the House of Representatives is debating the bill right now. It did go through the Senate and through the House committee, and today it's up for debate,

and if they pass it with no amendments, then yes, it would be headed to my desk. So I noticed that your team said in a recent statement that I think Florida, Alabama, West Virginia, and other states had signed similar laws since all the flurry over HB1217, and that these states' actions made your new measure more viable. Did South Dakota need those other states to go first, or what's going on with that? No, the bill that we had last year was very different than the bill we have today and very different from the ones that passed in other states. Really, that bill, how it was drafted, was unprecedented and deeply flawed. So, you know, as governor, you don't sign bad bills into law that end you up in lawsuits that keep you from being able to take action when you need to.

Instead, you fix them, make sure they're correct and appropriate, and that you literally can, push forward the protections that are necessary. So, you know, it's always nice to have a coalition of states that keep passing important policies, but for us, it was about signing a law that stayed in place so it could be enforced and people would have to follow it in the state of South Dakota. And we also saw that you just filed legislation guaranteeing medical or religious exemptions from COVID vaccines for private employees who are facing mandates. And we're super interested in this because we're in Washington, D.C., where there's a lot of people facing vaccine mandates. If you aren't vaccinated, you can't eat in many, many restaurants.

So we'd love to hear a little more about this legislation. Do you think that vaccines should be a choice? I do. Yeah, we have very, from the beginnings thought and talked about the fact that it is inappropriate for people to divide Americans into classes, classes such as the vaccinated and unvaccinated, and that it should be a choice. Here with this bill, what we're doing is ensuring that people have their right protected for a medical exemption and for a religious exemption. And we are putting a qualifier in there for natural immunity as well. All that requires to exercise that natural immunity clause and provision is that they would need a positive antibody test every six months,

and they would be able to utilize that portion of the legislation as well. Wow. And is that antibody, I haven't heard a lot about people using that antibody clause. Is this a new suggestion that South Dakota is using? Well, people typically will use antibody tests to see if they have had COVID previously or if they do have some natural immunity to it. We're just giving a provision in our statute that allows people to, if they don't want to get a vaccine, they know that they've had COVID recently,

that once every six months they can go in and get their antibodies tested and prove to their employer that they do have immunity and move forward without feeling like they're being pressured. The Daily Signal reported recently that the Biden administration has been testing out these lists of people who are asking for religious exemptions to the vaccines, and they're testing that out in small federal agencies. We don't know what they're doing with this information, and they haven't told us, and we'd love to get your take on that. Why do you find that problematic? Well, I do. I think that they're basically doubting the American people and challenging their rights to these exemptions. We've heard a little bit about some of this discussion, and there's quite a few things that come to us from the federal government through their agencies and departments that causes me great concerns.

It appears to be an agenda of taking more control of people's lives, trying to use this pandemic to take decisions away from individuals, freedoms, and they're using fear to do that and to motivate people to fall in line. So it is concerning for me. These are protected exemptions. And I think that Americans certainly shouldn't feel like they're constantly being challenged or being doubted on the integrity of their claims. All right. Well, it sounds like you want South Dakota to be a place where women's sports are protected, the unborn are protected, vaccines aren't mandated.

What else? What's your vision for South Dakota? Well, we, you know, we've just become the state that has embraced freedom. You know, we, we do hear what our Constitution says. And I think that's what's remarkable about our story is, you know, we have made some conservative decisions and protected people's freedoms and liberties, and we've now proven that it works. Our state is happy. Our mental health challenges are much lower than other states. Our drug overdoses are much lower than other states. We we don't have the homelessness unemployment challenges that other states do.

We have thriving businesses. People are moving here by the thousands to be a part of our way of life. I think that is what is so remarkable about the last two years. It's so many states are struggling. This gave South Dakota an opportunity to shine and really talk about how special our people are and how the framework of this country that our founders gave us really does provide for a stable basis for which to make all decisions on. All right.

And a final question for you. I know in the past you expressed some frustration about how conservatives reacted to your women's sports bills. Do you feel that conservatives have your back now? Oh, I think it, yeah. I mean, I think it depends. It's a different strange environment out there. I think, you know, liberals started attacking me with a vengeance because of my decisions

in COVID. as soon as people started to see that it was working and how well we were doing here in South Dakota, I think some conservatives got competitive or had friends that felt I was a threat in some way. So I try not to focus on that. I'm thankful for their support, but I also know that it doesn't matter who's criticizing me. I need to make the right decision and I need to make the best decision based on what my job is and not do more than what my authority is as governor and give my people all the information that I can

to help them get through any challenge that might come their way. So, you know, there'll always be criticism. I'm learning that in this job, but I'm just so thankful for the wonderful people I see every day that also give us their prayers and their encouragement and know our true hearts that we do this because we love the states and we love these people. That's beautiful, and I'm sure your people love you too.

Well, Governor, no. I hope so. I hope they keep me. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. We're so grateful that you came and you participated in this conversation and we're looking forward to speaking with you in the future. Absolutely. Anytime Mary Margaret, wonderful to talk with you. And that'll do for today's episode.

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