Kristi Noem
Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota.
AP Photo/John Raoux
  • Gov. Kristi Noem blasted conservative podcast host Matt Walsh from her official Twitter on Wednesday.
  • "Eyes up here, Matt," she wrote after Walsh made misogynistic comments about her appearance.
  • The Twitter spat came after Noem declined to ban COVID vaccine mandates for private businesses.
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem fired back at Matt Walsh, a conservative podcaster, on Wednesday night after he made misogynistic comments about the governor on the Daily Wire.

Walsh made the misogynistic comments in the midst of criticizing Noem for declining to pre-emptively ban vaccine mandates for private businesses, which other conservative governors have done.

"No use for Kristi Noem," said Walsh. "Kristi Noem is a very attractive woman, so she's got that going for her."

"As far as I can tell that's the only reason why she was ever looked at as some sort of 2024 potential frontrunner," said Walsh. "The hype and everything that she's gotten from conservative media is entirely based on the fact that she's an extremely attractive woman, which she is!

"But, you know, you put 50 pounds on her and another 20 years… I don't think she gets any of the hype," said Walsh.

In response, the South Dakota governor tweeted a clip of Walsh's comments and called out his "horrible misogyny."

"Instead of engaging in a debate about the proper role of government and how it isn't conservative to tell people how to do business, [Walsh] stooped to horrible misogyny," she wrote. "Eyes up here, Matt."

But Walsh doubled down on his comments, responding to Noem's tweet directly and accusing her of pulling the clip from Media Matters, a liberal watchdog group, and using it to attack fellow conservatives.

Walsh followed up by calling those upset by his misogynistic comments "a bunch of ridiculous, whiney babies."

Meanwhile, Noem tweeted at Ben Shapiro, another right-wing podcaster and Walsh's boss at the Daily Wire, from her campaign account.

"Hey [Shapiro] tell [Walsh] I was roping bulls (maybe he's a steer?) bigger than him when I was in my teens. He couldn't walk a day in my shoes."

Read the original article on Business Insider