"COVID didn’t crush the economy. Government crushed the economy," Noem told the crowd of conservatives gathered in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday. "South Dakota is the only state in America that never ordered a single business or church to close."...

"I took an oath when I was in Congress to uphold the United States Constitution," Noem said last April. "So, I believe in people’s freedoms and liberties, and I always balance that with every decision that I make as governor. I get overly concerned with leaders who take too much power in a time of crisis because I think that’s how we directly lose our country someday by leaders overstepping their proper role."