Neighbors of Kristi Noem and her husband, Bryon Noem, have reacted to reports that he cross-dresses. Speaking to The New York Times, neighbors in the couple’s South Dakota community reacted with disbelief and sympathy to the report.
The Daily Mail laid out the claims that Bryon Noem leads a double life, which includes wearing fake breasts and speaking to fetish models online, in a recent report. The outlet included photos they said were of the fomer Homeland Security (DHS) secretary’s husband wearing leggings and false breasts, sent in a messaging app.
Newsweek has not been able to verify the claims made by the Mail.
A representative for Kristi Noem told the New York Post that she is “devastated,” and that the family has been “blindsided.”
Why It Matters
The Mail said that they had published the report over potential national security concerns, citing experts who told the outlet that if a media organization could find the messages, hostile intelligence agencies could as well.
As DHS Secretary, Kristi Noem oversaw sensitive national security operations. Republican Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin has now been confirmed as her replacement.
Kristi Noem and Bryon Noem have been married since 1992, and they have three children.
What To Know
The New York Times spoke to neighbors of the Noems about the report.
Kevin Ruseink, a cattle rancher, told the outlet that the image “Must be A.I. [artificial intelligence]”
“I grew up playing ball with Bryon,” he told the outlet. “I’ve never known him to be part of stuff like that. I don’t believe that at all.”
Nancy Turbak, a former Democratic state senator, told the NYT, “I am sorry that Bryon is now the subject of so much attention himself, and for any embarrassment he’s experiencing.”
“He never asked for the public life in the first place, and I know him to be a kind and decent man. I wish he were not going through this,” she said.
Another neighbor, Brad Johnson, a conservationist and newspaper columnist, told the Times, “People know Bryon as the supportive husband who worked to maintain a normal family life as Kristi’s profile skyrocketed.”
“It shows the price of power and fame is very high. But, Kristi invited this type of coverage by her actions at the Department of Homeland Security,” Johnson said.
What People Are Saying
Kristi Noem’s representative said in a statement to the New York Post: “The family was blindsided by this, and they ask for privacy and prayers at the time.”
President Donald Trump told The Daily Mail: “They confirmed it? Wow, well, I feel badly for the family if that’s the case, that’s too bad. I haven’t seen anything. I don’t know anything about it. That’s too bad, but I just know nothing about it.”
