Kristi Noem's transformation from a farmer's daughter in rural South Dakota into a major political power player in Washington, D.C., has often been eclipsed by her seeming desperation to look good on camera. Her career in politics began when she was elected to the South Dakota House of Representatives in 2006, and she won her U.S. Congressional race four years later. One of her 2012 reelection campaign ads ended with the slogan, "Kristi Noem: Here at home she's one of us. Out in Washington, she fights for us." However, when the Donald Trump era hit D.C., Noem appeared far more interested in looking like she fit in with the guests at the president's Mar-a-Lago beach club than the farmers and ranchers of her home state.

By the time Trump tasked her with heading the Department of Homelan

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