(NewsNation) — Journalist Megyn Kelly, host of the Megyn Kelly Show podcast, said Kristi Noem is “done” after the South Dakota Gov. falsely claimed she met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Noem “got caught because she didn’t think the rest of us were smart enough to figure out … it’s a big deal to meet with Kim Jong Un,” Kelly told NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas. “She did that because she wanted to mislead us. She’s been exposed.”
Kelly said there’s no chance Noem will be on Trump’s 2024 vice presidential list: “Trump likes her, but Trump is not dumb. And he knows she will hurt his ticket,” Kelly added.
Noem acknowledged removing a reference to meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un from her book, wavering when pressed on whether it was inaccurate during an interview on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” earlier this week.
Noem, a Republican long considered a potential 2024 vice presidential pick, avoided directly admitting the claim was untrue when asked about the retraction. But after numerous follow-ups, the governor said, “This anecdote I should not have put in the book. And I asked (the publishers) to have it taken out, and it is.”
Noem’s book has faced scrutiny for including the anecdote describing her meeting the North Korean leader while traveling during her days in Congress. After multiple reports raised questions about its accuracy, a spokesperson for her office said Kim “was included in a list of world leaders and shouldn’t have been.”’
The Associated Press noted Noem traveled to China, Japan and South Korea as part of a congressional delegation in 2014.
Noem defended not initially copping to the inaccuracy, saying, “I don’t talk about personal meetings with world leaders.” She said she “took responsibility for it” and that “the buck stops with me.”
NewsNation’s Damita Menezes contributed to this report.