Kristi Noem's Abysmal Driving Record Will Never Stop Haunting Her

To say that Kristi Noem has some skeletons in her closet is something of an understatement. The Secretary of Homeland Security is constantly hounded by a long string of rumors that are impossible to ignore. From allegedly having a long-running affair with fellow MAGA insider Corey Lewandowski to suggestions that she got face-altering plastic surgery, to her own admission of executing her family's puppy in a gravel pit on their farm in South Dakota, there are truly no shortage of controversies that hang over Noem's time as an elected official.

One particularly embarrassing controversy haunts Noem to this day: her absolutely abysmal driving record. It has gotten her in hot water, both legally and politically. In fact, back in 2010, when she was running for congress in South Dakota against Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, her slew of tickets, fines, and moving violations surfaced, and surprised many.

As the Rapid City Journal reported in August 2010, Noem had racked up a whopping 20 speeding tickets over a period of 21 years, alongside other numerous violations. She'd been cited for driving without her license, not wearing a seatbelt, and blowing through red lights, to name just a few of the many rules she'd broken. Furthermore, the courts issued warrants over overdue traffic fines — although they were eventually settled. However, her dodgy driving history is once again drawing heat as Noem has directed ICE to target truckers in a crusade to protect highway safety.

Kristi Noem never misses an opportunity to flaunt her so-called "ICE Barbie" glam. In October 2025 at an event in Indiana, she announced that over 200 immigrants had been arrested on highways in the state, after ICE patrols began heavily targeting truckers and motorists. Many of those arrested were taken into custody for driving without a license. Noem said at the conference (via CBS News), "If you are here driving on our streets illegally and our highways, you are endangering our citizens, and your days are numbered."

Many critics were quick to point out the irony that Noem herself was once cited for driving without her license, as well as dozens of other tickets and fines for driving behavior that was undeniably dangerous to other citizens on South Dakota's motorways. "Very funny to have Noem talking about traffic safety, given that between 1989 and 2010 she collected 20 speeding tickets, three stop-sign violations, and a citation for driving without a license, along with six failure-to-appear notices," journalist James Surowiecki wrote on X, following Noem's press conference.

Very funny to have Noem talking about traffic safety, given that between 1989 and 2010 she collected 20 speeding tickets, three stop-sign violations, and a citation for driving without a license, along with six failure-to-appear notices. https://t.co/zDcco6FtTg

— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) October 30, 2025

A passage from Noem's controversial memoir, "No Going Back," also resurfaced, in which Noem admitted to a past event in which she was set to tow a flatbed trailer with her truck, but failed to personally check the hitch. The trailer later came unhitched while she was driving 70 miles per hour down the freeway, and nearly caused a massive traffic accident. She managed to avoid it, but recalled how she reflected to her daughter at the time (via Daily Beast), "We could have killed so many people."

When Kristi Noem's awful history with traffic violations and speeding tickets was first elevated into the public eye in 2010, it was used as an example of Noem's lack of respect for the law. Russ Levsen, a campaign advisor for Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, touted the record as evidence that Noem "thinks the rules don't apply to her" (via Rapid City Journal), and her inability to pay fines on time or remember to attend court dates shows she wouldn't be a good fit for congress.

Noem and her team, however, vehemently disagreed with that assertion and played off the dozens of tickets and infractions as the result of misunderstandings or miscalculations. According to Noem's campaign manager, Josh Shields, the tickets were simply the "result of haste and carelessness ... She was trying to make up time over flat country highways." He also pointed out that she did eventually pay all the fines and had since apologized.

To her credit, Noem did apologize when the extent of her poor driving record was revealed. "Obviously, I'm not proud of my driving record," Noem said (via The Hill), "but I've been working hard to be a better example to young kids and young drivers out there." However, Noem also wrote in her memoir, "No Going Back," that she was opposed to draconian seat belt laws, so it's difficult to know exactly what kind of safety role model she's actually trying to be.