Potential Trump V.P. pick Kristi Noem accused of violating law with 'weird' dental video
Gov. Kristi Noem's "weird" dental video has given her a new problem to chew on: a lawsuit accusing the South Dakota Republican of false advertising.
Consumer protection nonprofit Travelers United filed suit Wednesday over a viral video posted March 12 that shows Noem — who is described in court filings as a social media "influencer" — promoting veneers she received from the dental group Smile Texas.
"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," the group argues. "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."
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"Unfortunately Noem did not mark this as an 'Ad' or 'Advertisement' when posting so she is participating in an unfair and deceptive practice."
The complaint draws from multiple posts on X, Facebook, Truth Social, and Instagram in which Noem tells the story of a biking accident she says knocked out her front teeth.
“Being able to have a confident smile and be my teeth be something that is not a distraction, but actually is appealing to people, will be helpful," Noem says in the video. "I love it. I love that my bite is better."
The lawsuit notes that the video ends with Smile Texas' logo. There are numerous comments from followers accusing the South Dakota governor of publishing an undisclosed ad.
"Wait I'm confused," wrote Robert J. Salvador. "Did the Governor of South Dakota just film an infomercial for the dentist that did her veneers?"
Travelers United attorney Lauren Wolfe told Rolling Stone she believes Noem clearly violated the Consumer Protection Procedures act.
"Anybody that promotes travel products, services, medical tourism, space, travel — anything like that — needs to say that something is an ad," Wolfe reportedly said. "If she got free services, if she was paid for it, just to be transparent."