Gov. Kristi Noem Wants To Protect Liberty And Public Health In South Dakota
By The Federalist Staff
“I’m just a big believer that the best person to make decisions for them and their family is the individual,” said the Republican governor from South Dakota.
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Republican Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota was one of the first officials to reject the one-size-fits-all approach to combating the Wuhan coronavirus, deciding not to issue shelter-in-place orders on her state that has seen less than 1,000 cases. Noem also announced Monday South Dakota would be the first to begin a statewide clinical trial for the drug hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for the coronavirus.
On this episode of The Federalist Radio Hour, Publisher Ben Domenech interviews Noem on why she’s rejecting the uniform approach other states have taken, how the virus’ impact has differed in South Dakota, and the her thoughts as a fiscal conservative on the federal government’s economic band-aid.
Listen to the podcast here, or read the full transcript below:
Ben Domenech: I know that this is always something that happens when a governor, particularly a governor who has conservative values, ends up challenging perhaps the national narrative in any particular policy respect, though I think that the tempers are a little higher than normal given the issues involved today. This week you got slammed by a number of national media outlets, but particularly I would say the Washington Post, for the stand that you’ve had that has been applauded by, I think, a number of your citizens, and certainly a lot of folks that I think you’re familiar with, namely that a one size fits all solution is not really what you want to adopt and in your own state. Tell me a little bit about why you hold that belief and what your reaction has been to the backlash you’ve received.
Kristi Noem: Here in South Dakota, we just believe a lot in personal responsibility. We have a very diverse state, low population and looking at COVID-19 as it’s spreading across the state, we need to be effective. But in order to do that, it has to have a very targeted approach based on what part of the state we’re looking at. I’m one of the states that has not issued a shelter-in-place order. We did put in place some mitigation efforts, encouraged people to keep their group sizes under 10, to do social distancing, to practice good hygiene, all those measures.
full story at https://thefederalist.com/2020/04/16/interview-gov-kristi-noem-wants-to-protect-liberty-and-public-health-in-south-dakota/