Trump ends all speculation that Noem will be replaced

Over the last few weeks, Democrats have ramped up the pressure to have DHS Secretary Kristi Noem removed from her post.

If there was ever a time that Trump would cave to pressure, this would be it, but he is standing firm. When asked about replacing Noem, Trump was very clear that it would not happen.

No party support

When Trump nominated Noem for this post, it was not like she had overwhelming support from Republican senators.

Many of them approved her simply to give Trump his preferred choice, but there were a lot of “let’s see what she can do” type of comments.

Now that two American citizens are dead for having confronted immigration agents, most Republicans are cowering in the shadows and refusing to support Noem.

In fact, we are seeing more Republicans call for her removal than we are seeing defend her.

Step down now

At the front of the pack demanding that Noem step down is Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), which is not a surprise at all.

Tillis called Noem “incompetent,” among other things, and called for her to be removed from her post. None of this is surprising, as Tillis took off the kid gloves against Trump after he announced that he would not be running for re-election.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who has been locked in a battle with Trump for years, also called for Noem to be removed.

She stated, "I think the President needs to look at who he has in place as the Secretary of Homeland Security. I would not support her again, and I think it probably is time for her to step down.”

Backing his players

As I mentioned above, if Trump was going to cave, this would be the time when I think most people would forgive him, but he is digging in on Noem.

Trump responded, “No,” when asked if he was going to replace Noem, then he doubled down on her doing a great job in securing the border for him.

I would not be upset if Trump replaced Noem, but having said that, if she could learn to do better on PR, I don’t think she would even be in this position.

To me, Noem has tried to become the female version of Donald Trump when talking to the media, and it just is not working. She was very aggressive in characterizing Alex Pretti, and that has backfired on her.

Even so, for now, she is safe, but if the investigation into the Pretti shooting shows agents did not follow proper protocols, someone will have to fall on their sword, and it would not surprise me for a second if that person was Noem.