Within a Harmless Photo is Nothing More Than a Deflection
An Editorial: Kristi Noem is the problem, not her husband
On two different counts, I have no desire to repost recent curious photos that featured former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem’s husband. In screenshots from Bimbofication, he’s wearing balloons imitating Dolly Parton-sized breasts and pink bike shorts.
(Bimbofication is an online trend focused on transforming one's appearance to involve exaggerated feminine features, such as makeup, fashion, and sometimes plastic surgery.)
Here’s why Dear Bubbie isn’t publishing the photos:
What her husband of 34 years is doing behind closed doors isn’t harming anyone. Who knows if this wasn’t a one-off attempt at dress-up. Even if it wasn’t, so what? His accompanying quotes weren’t those that describes the definition of a traditional marriage. Big whoop. (and)
Noem wants these photos to spread like wildfire, so she can cry victimhood, while her own rumored affair is on the backburner.
Here’s the statement from Noem’s office after the photos were published in the tabloid The Daily Mail: “Ms Noem was devastated. The family was blindsided by this, and they ask for privacy. . .”
If you want to take Noem for her word that she didn’t know what was going on, after being married to her high school sweetheart since 1991, then she would have had to have been an absentee wife for decades. The woman who called protesting Americans “Domestic terrorists” who were killed on her watch doesn’t deserve to ever again be believed. (She never apologized.)
Deflection, they name is Noem.
Losing control of her own narrative, where she attempted to disguise unAmerican acts as patriotism, she was questioned of such actions during an investigative congressional hearing. Noem was ready to ‘flip the script’ on anyone who dared come after her. (Attorney General Pam Bondi executed the same maneuver during her investigative hearing.)
It’s been an open secret that Noem has been having an affair with Corey Lewandowski. He was hired by her as the department’s top advisor and "special government employee", even with being unqualified.
Noem was fired from her position, and in late March 2026, Lewandowski left his “unpaid” role days later due to scrutiny over his influence and inquiries into potential personal payments from contractors.
“Now we’re seeing the deflection being played out in her personal life.”
Her rumored affair with Lewandowski had been water-cooler fodder since 2021. She allegedly broke ties with him after reports that he was having another affair with a donor. However, the relationship did appear to continue with even the question being asked at the hearing if she was having an affair with Lewandowski.
Noem deflected when asked, replying:
“I am shocked that we’re going down and peddling tabloid garbage in this committee today. I would tell you is that he is a special government employee who works for the White House. There are thousands of them in the federal government.”
Other legislators asked for a yes-or-no response, including this from Florida Representative Jared Moskowitz:
“I really think you need to say the word ‘no’ into the record so that you can clear that up.”
Now we’re seeing the deflection play out in her personal life.
These behind-the-door images have most likely been in Noem’s sights for a while. The somewhat salacious photos could have been held onto until Noem could use them to her full advantage.
The former Governor of South Dakota has the wherewithal to understand that she’s losing her base of supporters who proclaim they are the party of “family values”. Therefore, news of her alleged affair needed to be redirected.
We don’t know if Noem’s husband wanted to stay in the marriage or get out. He could have been threatened with the photos, if he didn’t play the role of dutiful husband. Or he could have had a loyalty to the mother of his three adult children.
With her political career hanging on by broken fingernails, she is hoping that her most intellectually-challenged, bigoted base will see her as the victim, with the exposure of her husband’s photos. We know how MAGA feels about gender and science under their woefully limited wheelhouse on the subject.
She’s all about the scandal for optics sake, if her history of deflection is any indication. If she files for divorce, which frees her up for Lewandowski, it’s her husband’s fault. Noem knew exactly what would happen if photos of this nature would be released.
Let’s forget about her affair and focus instead on her cross-dressing husband. (If you can even call it that.)
The truly unbelieveable
While we’re at it, let’s also not be reminded that when Noem was DHS Secretary, she purchased two Gulfstream private jets for her use and other top department officials at a cost of $172 million. This happened during a government shutdown.
Then there was the alleged incident that Lewandowski entered the cockpit of a government jet during a flight after which he fired a pilot over a misplaced blanket. (This came out in February, which led me to wonder: Why the big deal over a blanket? Was the blanket the metaphorical Monica Lewinski dress that might have provided proof of mile-high shenanigans?) The pilot was rehired.
While we’re at it, let the photos distract from the reality of ICE agents performing their duties with the nuance of a Nazi. This is when Noem decided to run an anti-immigration television ad featuring herself. Resplendent in cowboy hat and on a horse, this ad blitz set taxpayers back $220 million.
Posts on social media are celebrating the outing of Noem’s husband as karma. I see it as helping push her own agenda. The real karma will come when Noem finds herself alone, with Lewandowski trying to save himself.
There are times I really am glad I don't follow social media. This is definitely one of them.
The mental picture of Noem's husband was enough. Maybe he was just dressing up for a Halloween party.