South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem says the nation's financial crisis was triggered by the leaders of other states, who carelessly relied on flawed virus models predicting the COVID-19 pandemic would result in far worse numbers than it has.
"A blind reliance on insufficient modeling has led some governor's to enact disastrous lock downs," Noem said on a nine-minute video posted on Twitter. "More freedom, not more government is the answer."
Her accusation appeared to be a dig at governors such as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who followed strict lockdown measures and only recently reopened their states, which are now in financial straits.
Noem, a Republican, refused to impose a stay-at-home order in the Mount Rushmore State, making it one of seven across America with no enforced lockdowns.
She said her policy is attracting new business and families to South Dakota. She welcomed people and businesses to move to the state, returning to a message that was a priority before the pandemic.
"If you want freedom, personal responsibility and a government that works for you, rather than dictates to you, South Dakota is the place to get it," the governor said.
Noem discusses her strategy in an exclusive cover story interview in the July edition of Newsmax magazine. She explains why she bucked conventional wisdom and refused to order a lockdown in South Dakota, instead using data, facts and science to guide her decision and putting her trust in citizens to use common sense to protect themselves.
Noem's anti-lockdown stance was heavily criticized by health officials as was the state's trial use of hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria medicine touted by President Donald Trump, but found to be ineffective against severe COVID-19 cases in some studies.
The governor also warred with two Native American tribes over coronavirus checkpoints they erected on federal and state highways.
The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Dakota is 5,471, with 65 deaths.
So far, hospitalizations for COVID-19 have been substantially below projections by Noem, who estimated South Dakota would need 5,000 hospital beds by next week.
Some of state's worst outbreaks have been at its slaughterhouses, with 853 employees at a Smithfield pork processing plant in Sioux Falls testing positive in April.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.