SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump has called on the nation’s governors to “liberate” residents, reopen schools and get back the economy back to normal. No governor has followed that advice more closely — and with more attention-seeking dazzle — than South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.
The first-term governor never shut down businesses, never mandated mask-wearing and welcomed two massive public gatherings this summer.
But it's an awkward time for Noem to celebrate her handling of the crisis and appear at the Republican National Convention.
South Dakota is seeing a sharp upward trend in cases.