'I Didn't Shoot My Dog': Romney Says He's No Noem

To many, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem's story about shooting her dog is reminiscent of Sen Mitt Romney's anecdote about once tying his dog to the roof of his car for a 12-hour trip. But not to Romney. "I didn't eat my dog. I didn't shoot my dog," Romney said Tuesday, per the Hill. "I loved my dog, and my dog loved me." Both Republican politicians faced blowback for their confessions, but Romney contended in an interview with HuffPost that the two happenings were not comparable.

Cricket was untrainable and displayed aggressive behavior toward people, Noem said in justifying the killing. Seamus was put in an airtight kennel that was "mounted on the top of our car," Romney told Fox News in 2012. "It was where he was comfortable, and we had five kids inside the car," he added. The admission took a toll on Romney's GOP presidential campaign, as Noem's could hurt her chances of being Donald Trump's running mate. She didn't feel toward Cricket the way Romney says he felt toward Seamus. "I hated that dog," Noem writes in her upcoming book. (More Mitt Romney stories.)