South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem may want to re-think her book tour. 

A new claim surfaced during Noem's first Sunday morning political show interview. For some reason, her book tour handlers thought it was a good idea for the Republican governor to be interviewed by CBS's Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan. To be kind, I would say the interview did not go well for Noem.

To be brutally honest, I would say that the interview was a disaster. Her book is set to be released on Tuesday.

A brand new controversy has emerged. In her new book, "No Going Back," the governor tells a story about meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong-un. That little bombshell received more attention than the story about Cricket the Dog has received up until now. To say it was a surprise is an understatement.

"I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un," she wrote in the book set to be released Tuesday. "I'm sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I'd been a children's pastor, after all)."

What? 

She continued to refuse to answer the question.

“There are details in this book that talk about going to the DMZ and specifics I’m willing to share,” she said. “There’s some specifics I’m not willing to share with you. I’ve traveled the world and visited with world leaders. Some of that is referenced in the book and this anecdote is something, when brought to my attention, we made some changes and when the book is released we’ll do all that we can to see that that is reflected.”

In the book, she speaks about meetings with many world leaders when she was a member of the House Armed Services Committee. It turns out that the meeting with Kim Jong-un didn't happen. She was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from  2011 to 2019. 

Now it is being edited out of her book.

"It was brought to our attention that the upcoming book ‘No Going Back’ has two small errors,” Noem's spokesperson Ian Fury told the New York Times. “This has been communicated to the ghostwriter and editor. Kim Jong-un was included in a list of world leaders and shouldn’t have been."

Margaret Brennan, a host who openly sneers at Republican guests, zeroed in on the North Korea story. Noem appeared ill-prepared to answer the questioning.

“Did you meet Kim Jong Un?” Brennan directly asked the governor, who avoided answering the question and instead said she’s “met with many, many world leaders” and has “made some edits” to the book.

“I’ve met with many, many world leaders and traveled around the world,” Noem said. “I think I’ve talked extensively in this book about my time serving in Congress, my time as governor, before governor, some of the travels that I've had. I’m not going to talk about my specific meetings with world leaders. I’m just not going to do it.”

Noem appeared robotic in her delivery. She kept repeating that answer as Brennan continued to ask about the meeting. Finally, she said that edits would be made to her book. It was excruciating to watch. 

It seems to me that making up a meeting with the North Korean dictator to imply she's tough and willing to face down evil leaders is a bigger story than shooting her 14-month-old dog. That story is bad, don't get me wrong, but why fudge about a list of world leaders she met with during her time in Congress? That is easily fact-checked and she had to have known that every Democrat operative masquerading as a show host on television would have staff who would do just that. 

I like Kristi Noem, or at least I did. Her story about shooting a dog may be handed off as a story about the reality of farm life but many Americans are already disturbed about that one. Now questions are arising about her ability to retell her political career stories. This goes to judgment and decision-making skills. She wants to look strong and she's been rumored to be on Trump's shortlist for a running mate. But when is it all too much?

We're about to find out.

Another problem with accuracy in her book includes a conversation with Nikki Haley. 

The other error Fury referenced is the timeline of a conversation with former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who she says called her in 2021 to offer to mentor her. Noem wrote that the conversation ended with Haley saying: "I’ve heard many good things about you. But when I do hear bad things, I will make sure that you know."

Noem wrote that she perceived the call as a threat. A spokesperson for Haley told the Times and Politico that Noem's characterization of the conversation is inaccurate, and that Haley "has long called and written notes supporting other women when they go through challenging times."

The book will be corrected in the future to say the conversation happened in 2020, not 2021, Fury told the Times.

That can be written off as a misunderstanding in communication. And, the wrong recollection of the year of a conversation isn't the end of the world. It does make the book look like it wasn't properly edited in the first place.

There is also a reference to a meeting with French President Macron as governor that she said she canceled. That meeting was never scheduled. 

Noem read her book for the audio edition. Didn't she catch the mistakes when she did that? 

Obviously, her book was ghostwritten. Did she write any of it? What else will come out as a fabrication? I think that is a legitimate question at this point. 

What a mess and it is self-inflicted. She may want to rethink the book tour.