‘The right people voting, electing the right leaders’: Kristi Noem’s chilling election comments spark mid-term rigging concerns

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is facing strong criticism after saying her department’s election security role involves making sure “the right people voting, electing the right leaders.” She made this statement during a press conference on Friday, which quickly raised concerns about election integrity and how the administration views democracy.

Noem believes elections fall under the Department of Homeland Security’s mission. She describes election systems as “critical infrastructure,” which gives her department the power to find system problems and fix them. Basically, she wants to make sure local and state elections are “run correctly.”

According to The Hill, Noem said this is one of the most important things the country needs to keep reliable and trustworthy. She said the department needs to take action “so that we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders to lead this country through the days that we have, knowing that people can trust it.” A video clip of these comments started spreading on social media and drew quick criticism from political commentators and Democratic lawmakers.

Noem’s controversial remarks come amid push for national voter ID requirements

This focus on election security comes as the administration pushes for major changes to how Americans vote. Noem was speaking in Arizona, where she was promoting a national voter ID law. The House just passed the SAVE America Act on Wednesday. If passed, this bill would require citizens to show photo ID in federal elections and prove US citizenship when registering to vote. It also requires states to clean up their voter rolls by removing non-citizens.

The bill faces a difficult path in the Senate, where similar efforts have failed in past years because of Democratic opposition. Even with one Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, saying she doesn’t support it, President Trump remains fully committed to the idea.

He has made clear he won’t accept failure, suggesting an executive order that would accomplish the same goal if Congress doesn’t act. “There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!” President Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Critics are worried about these measures. They argue this proposal isn’t about security and warn it could prevent millions of legal voters from voting. Some fear that women whose married names don’t match their birth certificates or passports could be blocked from casting a ballot. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X, “This is Trump’s idea of democracy: leaders get to select their voters instead of the other way around.”

Noem completely rejects that criticism. She pushed back, calling the arguments against the bill “baseless speculation from the radical left because they want illegal aliens to vote in our elections.” The secretary has been under growing pressure recently, particularly after her controversial use of domestic terrorism language regarding immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota.

Former Obama adviser David Axelrod suggested on X that Noem’s focus on election security is exactly why she remains in her position. Axelrod believes Noem’s comments help explain why she “will remain in place, despite her flagrant, corrupt mismanagement of the @DHS, at least through the midterm elections.”

He suggested that President Trump wants a “loyal apparatchik in place who will do whatever is necessary to ensure ‘the right leaders’ win.” Despite calls for her removal, Trump has publicly defended Noem’s position at the Department of Homeland Security.