Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem clapped back at Democratic Senator Tina Smith’s X post. Smith posted a photo of her holding a small dog and wrote, “Don’t worry, buddy, Kristi Noem isn’t around anymore.”

Noem reposted it and wrote, “Oh, but I am. I love puppies.” She finished her post slamming Smith, “You…? …not so much.” This was Noem’s return to X after she got fired from the department.

Netizens fired back at Noem, referring to her memoir. In her 2024 memoir No Going Back, Noem claimed that she shot her 14-month-old puppy, Cricket, whom she hated. She called him a worthless dog that was responsible for killing the neighbor’s chickens.

She bragged about taking him to the gravel pit and shooting him dead. Ever since people learned about this incident, they have repeatedly called out Noem for killing the innocent dog. Noem grew up on a farm, and this revelation gave her personality a ruthless background.

Apart from Democratic senators like Smith, even Republicans slammed Noem. Sen. Thom Tillis demanded her resignation after she opened up about the shooting incident. In addition, netizens never miss an opportunity to bring up the incident to troll Noem.

One X user asked, “If you love puppies, why did you shoot your 14-month-old dog?” Another one joked, “She loves them so much she shoots them.”

The third one mocked her getting fired from the DHS secretary role and commented, “Anyone who loves puppies wouldn’t kill one. You’ve been awfully quiet. How are things in your new ‘job’?”

One more fired back, “You love puppies but when you see a gravel pit you just can’t help yourself.” Another one posted, “You obviously didn’t love Cricket enough to try to rehabilitate her.”

Needless to say, admitting to killing her own pet has done a lot of harm to Noem’s public image. An April episode of Saturday Night Live (SNL) also mocked Noem’s dog shooting incident.

Played by comedian Sarah Sherman, Noem referred to cleaning up a dog’s mess with the vacuum cleaner she was selling after getting fired from the DHS department. The episode also trolled her over the news of her husband, Bryon Noem’s, cross-dressing.

With several controversies, such as affair rumors, husband’s scandal, misappropriating taxpayers’ money for an ICE ad campaign, and her role in ICE’s immigrant crackdown, Noem may not be able to redeem herself anytime soon.