Noem’s tweet about college student foods pantry viewed as dig at Haley
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem took a shot at a Texas school’s food pantry in a move that political strategists reported was really aimed at former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who is found as a opportunity rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Noem utilized her gubernatorial Twitter account on Sunday to react to Haley’s publish praising a Texas high college that experienced set up a foods pantry like a grocery shop to give “dignity” to students. The food stuff pantry is supported by a Christian ministry and lets students to order groceries with a place program primarily based on spouse and children size, conduct and on-campus employment.
Noem replied to Haley’s tweet by publishing a quote from economist Milton Friedman, declaring, “There’s no these detail as a free lunch.” Her reaction doesn’t mention Haley especially.
“I just see this as a indication of ‘let the online games begin’,” mentioned Alice Stewart, a GOP strategist and commentator.
A spokeswoman for Haley declined to remark on Noem’s tweet.
Haley, a former governor of South Carolina, and Noem are believed to be eyeing presidential operates, even though Noem has said she will not operate. Both Noem and Haley were the very first gals to hold the top business office in their states. In the aftermath of Trump’s function in the Capitol insurrection, the two have staked out opposing sights of in which the GOP need to go now.
At the Republican Nationwide Conference wintertime conferences held in the days immediately after a mob of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol, Haley decried Trump for spurring the lie that the election was stolen, statinghis steps will “be judged harshly by background.” By distinction, Noem deflected blame from Trump.
The South Dakotan’s tactic might get her favor with Trump supporters in the Republican bash, but it also imperils her self-explained manufacturer as a “family-to start with governor.”
Stewart questioned Noem’s shift to target the school food items pantry software, indicating, “I occur to glimpse at that and see God’s grace at operate.”
The governor’s office environment defended the dig at the foods pantry on Tuesday, pointing to her emphasis on complex faculties as a extended-phrase alternative to poverty.
“We must completely aid all those who want it,” her spokesman Ian Fury explained. “The ideal way to do that is by acquiring modern solutions to get people out of foodstuff pantries.”
But Cathy Brechtelsbauer, the condition coordinator for Bread for the Globe, a Christian firm that advocates for policies to finish hunger, explained that the require for food items pantries in South Dakota is “tremendous,” with parking a lot at instances filling with vehicles of people today ready for food.
“It’s vital that our food items pantries can fill in the gaps and in this pandemic, the gaps have definitely grown wider,” she reported.
Noem just lately mentioned she is not managing for president in 2024 and her aim is on her job as governor she is up for reelection in 2022. But she has manufactured moves to counsel otherwise, cultivating a nationwide following, weighing in on troubles significantly outdoors South Dakota and touring to marketing campaign and raise income. She was in Arkansas over the weekend, duck hunting with U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman.
Although Haley has not immediately dealt with whether or not she will operate in 2024, Stewart, the GOP strategist, expects the two politicians to continue to “butt heads” over each Trump and the party’s current Senate losses in Georgia.
“This is what we’re going to see for the following couple decades,” she reported. “It is off to the races.”
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Thomas Beaumont contributed reporting from Des Moines, Iowa.