Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) has declined to answer questions about an unconventional advertisement she posted online in favor of cosmetic dentistry and what, if any, financial benefit she received to promote her new teeth.
The South Dakota governor’s nearly 5-minute video touting the work Smile Texas performed on her mouth led to much confusion and questioning over whether Noem was paid to release the infomercial-style video on X late Monday night.
In the video, Noem, a potential running mate for former President Donald Trump, claims she needed an adjustment to her teeth stemming from a biking accident that Smile Texas performed.
“The team here was remarkable and finally gave me a smile that I can be proud of and confident in, and that really is a gift that I think is going to be incredibly special to have,” Noem said.
Noem also championed dentist Bret Davis’s work on her teeth in the video, which also featured numerous up-close shots of the governor displaying her smile.
But the dentistry work raised eyebrows not just for Noem, a government official, filming an advertisement for a private company and promoting it to her 487,000 social media followers on X, but also for the work being done by a company not based in South Dakota.
Nate Hochman, a former staffer for Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-FL) 2024 campaign, asked on X: “Why is the sitting governor of South Dakota doing dentist infomercials?”
“For the record, Kristi Noem is awful for a lot of reasons, most of which have nothing to do with dentists or teeth,” Hochman added in a follow-up post.
“This is some banana-republic scale BS,” wrote James Fallows, a former chief speechwriter in the Jimmy Carter White House. “The unknowable: might this cheesiness make her more attractive to DJT as VP running mate? Perhaps so.”
“Is that allowed?” Morning Joe host Mika Brzezinski pondered. “Can governors do commercials for products that give businesses money?”
“Typically not,” co-host Willie Geist responded.
“So, this is unusual,” Brzezinski said.
Noem’s office did not respond to the Washington Examiner‘s request for comment on the financial details of the procedure, the reasoning for going to a Texas-based dentist group, or the reason why the video was necessary to be filmed and released.
The criticism is unwelcome news to Noem, who has not shied away from potentially accepting a vice presidential offer from Trump. She faces competition from Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and others.
Noem recently tied Ramaswamy in a straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference as attendees’ first-place choice for Trump’s running mate.
Smile, Texas, is located in Sugar Land, more than 1,100 miles from South Dakota’s capital city Pierre.
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A representative for the company refused to comment on Noem’s relationship with the business when the Washington Examiner called for comment and hung up.
The average price for veneers can range from $800 per tooth for composite resin veneers to $1,500 for porcelain veneers and $1,800 for ultra-thin porcelain laminate veneers.