South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has a message for the San Francisco salon owner who finds herself under siege from Nancy Pelosi loyalists. Come to South Dakota.

Salon owner Erica Kious just wants to open her hair salon business and provide for her children. The single mom is on the wrong side of Pelosi supporters and that’s not a good place to be in San Francisco. Kious rightfully defended herself when security footage from her salon revealed a visit from the Speaker of the House on Monday afternoon. Pelosi was moving about the salon without wearing a face mask. Later that day she appeared on MSNBC and trashed President Trump for not wearing a face mask during the Republican convention. She called Trump “anti-science” and said he “slapped science right in the face”.

After Pelosi was caught in her own hypocrisy and FNC ran the security video footage, she concocted a story that she was set up. She had the gall to tell her tale of victimization during a press conference as the feckless members of the press lapped it up. Now Ms. Kious is being harassed and receiving death threats.

All of this happened because Pelosi apparently felt perfectly safe in going without a face mask in the salon, even though she is an 80-year-old woman which puts her in the group of the most vulnerable to the coronavirus. She exposed the inconvenient truth that that is no reason for a hair salon to remain on a California government-mandated shutdown. California Governor Newsom has kept hair salons closed since March. Kious rightly asks the question that if Pelosi was comfortable, why can’t the salon reopen and allow the public to come?

Governor Noem apparently was watching the Tucker Carlson show on FNC as he aired the video of Pelosi. She has extended an invitation to Noem to come and relocate to South Dakota. Kious said that since she has come under such intimidating threats, she is considering relocating elsewhere, outside of San Francisco. Noem tweeted that Kious wouldn’t have to deal with lockdowns in South Dakota.

My heart goes out to Erika. As a former female small business owner, I can only imagine how crushing these last few months have been. And now THIS!?

Erika, if you want to run your salon in a state that respects Freedom and won't shut you down, then South Dakota is open for you. https://t.co/la6CD5LScC

— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) September 3, 2020

Noem is participating in an excellent marketing campaign for South Dakota. Her commercials run here in Texas and I’ve been seeing them daily – before the salon story made the news. She’s encouraging tourism but her campaign also works for encouraging businesses to come to South Dakota as she mentions freedom and low taxes.

South Dakota was one of a handful of states that did not implement lockdown measures. Noem defended her decision, writing that “the mainstream media attack those who push for freedom and for people to be able to make the best decisions for their families. But politicians who take away people’s freedoms and enforce lockdowns are praised — and shielded from real scrutiny.”

The salon owner is not backing down. She’s defending herself and her small business. Her security cameras have been in operation for five years, she told Tucker Carlson in an interview with him. She spoke about the threats made to her and that Pelosi is wrong that she is the victim of a set-up. She said she will likely have to relocate, which is distressing to her as she has made San Francisco her home for many years.

“The hard part of all this is I’ve been in that community for 12 years, and since this happened, I’ve received nothing but hate — text messages, death threats, they’re going to burn my hair salon down. My Yelp page is just unbelievable with bad reviews,” she said in an interview Wednesday night. “It’s sad that my community is pulling this when they’re saying I threw her under the bus when I didn’t. … I think I’m pretty much done there.”

Conservatives are coming out to support her with financial help. Former Nevada Republican Party Chairwoman Amy Tarkanian launched a GoFundMe page for Kious. As I write this on Friday morning, donations are at $146,490 to help her relocate elsewhere.

Pelosi is demanding an apology from Erica Kious. It’s not happening. Pelosi’s hairstylist is verifying Pelosi’s story. According to Kious, he is the one who set the appointment up and told her about it after he did it. Seems like he should be the one held responsible. He should have told Pelosi to wear her mask, too. We know she has plenty of them, all color coordinated to match her outfits. Women in the press swoon over her new fashion accessories.

Kious held a video call with the press Thursday.

During a video call with reporters Thursday, a visibly shaken and at times tearful Kious read a prepared statement suggesting the idea that the video was a setup is “totally false and outrageous.”

“I don’t owe anyone an apology,” said Kious, who said she was on a plane when the visit occurred and shortly after landing saw the video of Pelosi passing through the salon without a mask. “Mrs. Pelosi owes the entire country an apology.”

Kious said that the reason for releasing the video was that if Pelosi, a woman in a high-risk age group, feels comfortable coming into a San Francisco salon and can be responsible and cautious, other Americans should be able to do the same.

“That was my point,” she said.

Pelosi knows this was a huge misstep of her own making. She could have avoided this whole thing by doing what other wealthy, pampered women do – hire her stylist to come to her house and do her hair there.