On Monday MAGA governor Kristi Noem started her week a little unexpectedly: She dropped a bizarre, unprompted, five-minute-long video that appeared to be an infomercial for a dental chain in Texas. Noem is governor of South Dakota. Why was she shilling for dentists four very large states south of her? And given that Noem made no sign that it was paid advertising, why did it play like it was? Surely she knows that not identifying paid advertising as such on social media was illegal. If she didn’t, she knows now.
News: Travelers United has just filed suit against Kristi Noem with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia “for violations of the District’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act.”
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) March 13, 2024
Per Mediaite, Travelers United, a consumer advocacy nonprofit, filed a suit against Noem on Wednesday, accusing her of violating the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CCPA). The filing claims she made “undisclosed advertisements” for the chain, entitled Smile Texas, which constituted an “unfair or deceptive practice.”
In an interview with Mediaite, Travelers United lawyer Lauren Wolfe acknowledged that they hadn’t yet found direct evidence that Noem was engaged in quid pro quo with Smile Texas. Maybe Noem just really enjoyed their dental work, performed some 1,000 miles from her state. But if Noem didn’t receive payment for shilling for Smile Texas, then it “doesn’t make any sense.”
In the filing, TU called bull on Noem’s video:
Someone with a very busy job does not take time off of that job to make a free advertisement for medical services in another state. There are many dentists and cosmetic dentists in South Dakota. No one with an extremely important job in the South Dakota would fly to Texas to receive dental treatment and then sit in that office and film an advertisement without some form of compensation. Kristi Noem acted here as an influencer. She likely either received free dental care in exchange for this advertisement, discounted dental care in exchange for this advertisement or she was paid and received free dental care for the advertisement. Unfortunately Noem did not mark this as an “Ad” or “Advertisement” when posting so she is participating in an unfair and deceptive practice.
In the video, which again runs longer than most popular songs, Noem opened up about a bicycling accident she had some years ago, which resulted in losing teeth. But when she went to Smile Texas, in the Lone Star State, she received “absolutely phenomenal” work that “finally gave me a smile that I can be proud of and confident in.”
I love my new family at Smile Texas! The video says it all, and I am so grateful for their help fixing my smile for me.
pic.twitter.com/z2kTmiY8td
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) March 12, 2024
Noem isn’t the only MAGA figure who’s been acting funny of late. Alabama senator Katie Britt became a national laughingstock after she dropped a creepy rebuttal to Joe Biden’s fiery State of the Union. And then there’s always Marjorie Taylor Greene.
(Via Mediaite)