5 Times Kristi Noem Failed To Shut Down Those Pesky Cheating Rumors

After a brief tenure filled with scandals, Kristi Noem has been kicked to the curb, losing her position as the head of the Department of Homeland Security. One item Noem was sure to take with her as she packed up her office was her rumored beau, Corey Lewandowski. The whispers of an affair between Noem and Lewandowski have been around for years, and neither one has done much to quiet them down. If anything, the duo seemed to feed into the gossip without worrying about how it made them look. 

Noem wed her husband, Bryon, in 1992, and together they have three children and four grandchildren. Lewandowski married his wife, Alison Hardy, in 2005, and they have four children. And while Lewandowski was never an official part of the second Trump administration because of his many controversies, including a rumored affair with Hope Hicks, Noem made Lewandowski a "special government employee," which reportedly helped Lewandowski make a pretty penny. Even as Noem and Lewandowski's actions cost them their jobs and their reputations, the two refused to put an end to the long-running talk of the dalliances, which, of course, only fanned the flames even more. 

While there may have been whispers even earlier, it was the September 28, 2021, American Greatness story that put Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski's supposed affair on blast. The article, dating back to when Noem was the governor of South Dakota, includes several unnamed sources who claim that, even then, Noem and Lewandowski's relationship was "an open secret" and that some were concerned that it would damage her political prospects. Noem responded on X (formerly known as Twitter) in a now-deleted post that said, "These rumors are total garbage and a disgusting lie" (via Fox News). Pedro L. Gonzalez, the writer of the article, responded to Noem's post, asking her to directly state which of the many accusations in the article weren't true. She did not respond. 

The day after the American Greatness story ran, Politico reported that Lewandowski had been accused by Trashelle Odom of making unwanted sexual advances at a charity event. Following the Politico story, Noem stopped working with Lewandowski. The two would be back together by 2024 as Donald Trump prepared to start his second term, and Lewandowski was tasked with helping Noem prepare to take over the DHS. According to the New York Times, Lewandowski's objective was to become Noem's chief of staff, but the affair rumors, which continued to grow in the intervening years, made that impossible.

The annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is one of the biggest events for American conservatives. It's a place where the biggest names come together to give speeches, hobnob, and, for JD Vance, it's also a chance to have a ridiculous fashion fail. But in 2021, before Vance was even in the Senate, it was Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski who had people talking. 

According to an insider who spoke to the New York Post, Noem and Lewandowski were taking part in some PDA action at the hotel bar of the Hyatt Regency Orlando while just about everyone there watched. The source told the Post that the duo made out at the hotel where "a bajillion political operatives and journalists" were staying. The source went on to describe a 2020 event at Mar-a-Lago where Noem was sitting on Lewandowski's lap and they were "playing grab-a**." The Post attempted to get a response from Lewandowski, but he did not comment. Noem has apparently never spoken about the 2021 CPAC allegation.

A 2023 Daily Mail story dug deep into the gossip surrounding Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski. At the time, many believed that Kristi would be Donald Trump's choice to be his running mate, but the whispers of an affair were hurting her chances. According to the Daily Mail, Noem and Lewandowski were known to fly private and utilize high-end accommodations during business trips that may have been used to try to hide their romance. 

One source told the Daily Mail that they saw Noem and Lewandowski together at the 2019 American Priority Conference, held at Trump's Doral Miami golf resort, and believed that they were husband and wife, explaining to the British paper that he told Lewandowski that it was nice to meet his wife, to which Lewandowski responded, "That's not my wife." Another source claims that Noem demanded Lewandowski be given a hotel room close to hers at the 2021 Republican Governors Association conference in Colorado, and that she missed multiple events at the conference because she was spending time with him. The Daily Mail asked Noem and Lewandowski if they would like to comment on the article. 

Lewandowski did not respond, but Noem's spokesperson, Ian Fury, issued a statement attacking the paper after the article was initially published, saying, "This is so predictable that you would attack Governor Noem less than a week after she endorsed Donald J. Trump as the 47th President of the United States." Vanity Fair also reached out to both parties for comment on the Daily Mail story, but seemingly did not receive a response. 

Following the passing of Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," Kristi Noem purchased two wildly expensive private jets. The jets would be a big part of the congressional hearing that led to Noem's ouster, with special attention paid to one weird detail: a lavish bedroom. But even before the bedroom issue came up, people were already wondering how Noem was using the increased budget, and what role Corey Lewandowski played in it all. Early in October 2025, The Atlantic spoke to Lewandowski about the funding, but couldn't help but also bring up the rumors about his relationship with Noem. Lewandowski responded with a two-word answer, "It's bulls***," before going on to lambast the question itself: "It's sexist."

In February 2026, The Atlantic did a follow-up piece about Lewandowski and Noem's rumored affair and the luxury jet. This time, they got a quote from a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security who said, "This Department doesn't waste time with salacious, baseless gossip," which is not a direct "no." The dodging of the question coming directly from Noem's department did little to quell any whispers. It didn't help that the same article has statements from insiders who say that Noem and Lewandowski don't even try to hide their affair.

The final nail in Kristi Noem's career within the Trump administration appears to have been her disastrous performance during a two-day congressional hearing in March 2026. During the hearing, Noem made a number of mistakes, and while the biggest issue in the eyes of Donald Trump may have been claiming that the president approved her move to spend $200 million on ads that featured herself, a different moment caught everyone's attention. During the hearing, California Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove asked Noem a very direct question, " ... have you had sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski?"

Noem refused to give a simple yes or no answer, choosing instead to say that she was shocked that such a question would even be asked and claiming that Kamlager-Dove was "peddling tabloid garbage." Noem's non-answer did little to squash the rumors, but what truly stood out was that Noem's husband was sitting right in the front row, forced to listen to his wife as she refused to deny the allegations. Whether or not the affair rumors are true, the moment had to be difficult for Bryon Noem, who has been with Kristi since high school. What likely hasn't helped is that Byron's extended family spoke to the New York Post after the hearing, and told the paper that Bryon believes God has called on him to support his wife no matter what, "But it seems like there would be some limit to that."