Country singer Kacey Musgraves recently hosted Texas Senate candidate James Talarico at one of her shows. The Democrat shared photos from the night and thanked her publicly, which caught the attention of former South Dakota governor Kristi Noem. On Monday, Noem weighed in on X by criticizing the pairing.
Noem wrote that she preferred another artist and a different candidate. “I’ll take @ellalangleymusic over Kacey Musgraves any day,” she posted. “And if I’m choosin’ Texas, I’ll take Ken Paxton over James Talarico.” The message named singer Ella Langley and backed Republican Ken Paxton, who is running against Talarico in the Texas Senate race.
Talarico had written, “Thank you for having me last night, Kacey Musgraves!” Photos showed the two smiling backstage and interacting during the performance. Musgraves, a Texas native, had welcomed the candidate to the event. Noem’s post turned that moment into a direct comparison between the singers and the Senate contenders.
Noem’s post draws a pointed reply that cites her 2024 memoir
Musgraves responded with a single sentence that referenced a well-known story from Noem’s past. “I don’t think you have a dog in this fight but if you did you would have shot it,” she wrote. The reply spread quickly and drew hundreds of thousands of likes along with millions of views.
In her 2024 book No Going Back, Noem described shooting and killing a 14-month-old wirehaired pointer named Cricket. She said the dog was untrainable and dangerous. The account sparked widespread outrage when it became public and continued to follow her as she pursued higher office in Republican politics.
Users on the platform also noticed that Ella Langley appeared to have removed herself from Noem’s post. One person observed, “Ella Langley untagging herself is perhaps the best part of this.” Langley has not commented on the change, and it is not confirmed whether she personally untagged the post.
The exchange started with Talarico’s thank-you post and the photos from Musgraves’ show. Noem’s comments shifted the focus to her preferred singer and candidate. Musgraves’ answer brought attention back to the details Noem had shared about Cricket in the memoir.
Talarico has used appearances outside standard campaign events to reach voters in Texas. The photos with Musgraves gave him another chance to connect with people through a high-profile artist. Noem’s intervention and the singer’s response put both the Senate contest and the earlier dog story back into wider discussion.
Noem was appointed as the United States Secretary of Homeland Security in 2025. But after several controversies, she was removed from office in March 2026.
But her DHS tenure came back into the spotlight recently as The New York Times published a piece that claimed she bought airplanes at marked-up prices from a political donor. She hit back at the outlet afterward and asked it to retract the story.
Published: Oct 13, 2026 11:15 am