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South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem faces lawsuit after viral endorsement of Texas dentists
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem was hit with a lawsuit accusing her of “misleading and deceptive advertising” after she posted a viral dental endorsement video on social media earlier this week.
Travelers United, a consumer advocacy group, filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
“Travelers United sued South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem for failing to properly disclose a medical tourism advertisement that she posted on all of her personal social media platforms,” reads a description of the suit shared to the advocacy group’s website, which grouped it under legal claims related to “travel influencers.”
Noem — a Republican who for a time seemed poised to enter the 2024 presidential race and has billed herself as a potential vice presidential pick for former President Donald Trump as he campaigns for his own reelection — faced backlash as well as widespread scrutiny after initially sharing the video on Monday night. The governor herself starred in the promotional clip, which was styled like a typical infomercial and saw her giving praise to “the team at Smile Texas,” a cosmetic dental office, for performing a procedure that Noem praised for fixing her teeth and giving her a smile that she said she “can be proud of.”
“I love my new family at Smile Texas!” Noem captioned the video clip on X, formerly Twitter. “The video says it all, and I am so grateful for their help fixing my smile for me.”
An Instagram post by Smile Texas, which included the video of Noem, referred to her as a “gracious leading lady” who “just received an executive, feminine, beautiful smile here at Smile Texas.” Noem said she sought the dental procedure because of a biking accident several years ago that knocked out some of her teeth.
The lawsuit alleges that Noem, in sharing the Smile Texas plug to her personal social accounts without any sort of label, “advertised a product or service without disclosing that she has a financial relationship with that company.” It also accuses the governor of violating a Federal Trade Commission requirement that social posts disclose whether they are advertisements or not with a marker that says, “Ad.”
“Governor Kristi Noem is the Governor of South Dakota for a living but seems to have taken up work as a social media influencer as of March 12, 2024,” the lawsuit says.
CBS News contacted Noem’s office for comment but did not receive an immediate reply.
The lawsuit came as North Dakota State Sen. Reynold Nesiba, a Democrat, called for an investigation into Noem’s viral dental video, the Associated Press reported. Nesiba asked the co-chairs of the state legislature’s Government Operations and Audit Committee to add the issue of Noem’s alleged advertisement to the agenda for their next meeting in July, according to the outlet.
“This informercial raises a number of questions,” Nesiba wrote Wednesday in a post on social media.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.