Allies of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem are celebrating her as the “definition of South Dakota toughness” as critics lampoon the Trump administration official for wearing a cowboy hat or protective vest amid her hands-on efforts to secure the southern border and deport illegal immigrants.
“Kristi Noem is the definition of South Dakota toughness and actually ran a working ranch for decades,” Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital Tuesday. “She talks straight, works hard, and gets the job done. Like any great leader, she’s not sitting behind a desk — she’s out there on the front lines, rolling up her sleeves and working alongside the people she leads.”
“You don’t see that much in Washington,” he said.
Noem, who was confirmed as DHS chief on Jan. 25, has been on an immigration and security blitz since then, joining immigration raids on the streets of New York City and taking a horseback tour of the southern border in Texas.
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Kristi Noem participates in the South Dakota Buffalo Roundup in September 2023. (Fox News Digital )
As Noem works to help deliver on President Donald Trump‘s campaign vow to lock down the border and clean house of illegal immigrants who flooded the nation under the Biden administration, critics have latched onto criticizing Noem’s wardrobe selection.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem makes an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Feb. 2, 2025. (Screen grab from NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’)
She has been accused of wearing “cosplay outfits” or “cosplaying” a cowboy when she donned a cowboy hat during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Noem also has been mocked as “ICE Barbie” or “Border Patrol Barbie” for wearing a baseball cap, an apparent bullet-proof vest and makeup while helping conduct the raids in New York City at the end of January.
To those in Noem’s personal and work orbit, however, she has long worn outfits that match the job she has before her — including when she has to get “her hands dirty.”
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“If folks want to nitpick about her wearing the same gear as the people she’s leading — a cowboy hat, work clothes — they don’t understand her, and they sure don’t understand South Dakota,” Johnson said in comment to Fox Digital. “That’s who she is. Always has been.”
Then-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem helps construct border fencing in 2024. (Fox News Digital )
“People in New York or D.C. wouldn’t last a day in the real America,” he said. “I told folks she’d be an ass kicker, and that’s exactly what she’s doing.”
A source close to Noem, who spoke to Fox News Digital on the background of the secretary’s upbringing, speculated that critics likely “just don’t get her,” while arguing that complaints about men’s wardrobe choices are few and far between.
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“Kristi Noem was taught by her father not to complain about a problem, but to go and fix it,” the source said. “She gets her hands dirty when she throws herself into a job and that’s what she’s doing.”
To those in Kristi Noem’s personal and work orbit, however, she has long worn outfits that match the job she has before her — including when she has to get “her hands dirty.” (Fox News Digital )
Noem stepped down as South Dakota’s governor following her confirmation to lead DHS and has a history of routinely swapping typical Washington, D.C., fashion, such as pantsuits and heels, for cowboy boots and jeans when outside of her office.
While serving as governor, Noem was repeatedly spotted wearing jeans and more work-styled outfits while on the border. She has participated in the South Dakota Buffalo Roundup and joined state farm fairs.
Noem was the first governor to deploy National Guard troops to border states in 2022 and repeatedly visited southern states such as Texas amid the immigration crisis, which she said created a “warzone.”
Then-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem repeatedly visited southern states amid the immigration crisis, which she said created a “warzone.” (Fox News Digital )
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Noem grew up on a ranch in South Dakota’s rural Hamlin County and has remained close to her country roots.
She came under fire in 2024, when she published a memoir that garnered outrage for defending the killing of a farm dog that attacked other animals.
Kristi Noem sits in the cab of a John Deere tractor on her family farm while building a buffalo pen in 2020. (Fox News Digital )
Noem reflected on her rural lifestyle in her Senate confirmation hearing in January, saying she has “spent my life in rural America” and that she understands “what it means to work hard every day to build a better future for our kids and our communities.”
“Petty insults” aimed at Kristi Noem are actually borne out of opposition to Trump’s immigration policies, one government source said. (Fox News Digital )
Another Noem ally close to the secretary who spoke to Fox News Digital said that “petty insults” aimed at Noem are actually borne out of opposition to Trump’s immigration policies.
“The simple fact is that many of her critics are opposed to President Trump’s mission to keep the nation safe by fighting illegal immigration, and they’ll try to undermine it any way they can — and that includes hurling petty insults at the Secretary of Homeland Security to undermine her and the president,” the source close who Noem said. “It won’t work. She’s sworn to do the job the president gave her of protecting this country, and that’s what she’s going to do.”
