Fox News roasts Kristi Noem for claiming she was ‘too successful’ in Trump’s first year

Fox News host Trey Gowdy tore into former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for boasting that she was “too successful” in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term.Noem was widely mocked for her take as the damning midterm election results began to roll in on November 3. She agreed with former Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow, a Fox Business host, that the economy was “booming” and incorrectly predicted Republicans would retain control of the Senate. “Larry Kudlow is correct. We were too successful the first year of the Trump administration,” Noem posted at 9:25 p.m. on Election Day.Gowdy, a former Republican representative, rebuked Noem for her “unique take on the law” after she presided over Trump’s aggressive deportation operation. “She said she was too successful at doing her job. Calling dead Americans domestic terrorists before the investigation even commenced is not too much success,” Gowdy said on Sunday Night in America, referring to Alex Pretti and Renee Good, the U.S. citizens killed by federal immigration agents in Minnesota. “It is a perceived lack of empathy, which in turn motivates voters to then go send a message.”Fox News host Trey Gowdy tore into former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for boasting that she was ‘too successful’ in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term. Gowdy referenced a $143 million tax-payer funded ad campaign Noem featured in (pictured) (DHS)‘Larry Kudlow is correct. We were too successful the first year of the Trump administration,’ Noem posted at 9:25 p.m. on Election Day, for which she was mocked (Kristi Noem/X)As Gowdy laid into Noem, the results of the network’s Voter Poll were shown on the screen, revealing that 36 percent of Americans considered immigration enforcement a crucial factor in their House election decisions. Government corruption was ranked top at 54 percent, followed by the cost of living at 49 percent. The war in Iran ranked at 34 percent, followed by AI and data centers at 23 percent. In an op-ed for the network, Gowdy wrote that the Republican midterm election defeat was “as thorough a whipping as I can recall in my lifetime.”He attacked Noem again, referencing a $143 million taxpayer-funded ad campaign she featured in while heading up the Department of Homeland Security. She appeared in the ad on horseback against the backdrop of Mount Rushmore, with full hair and make-up.“When people voted for border security, they were not including glitzy, self-serving ad campaigns focused on boosting personal political ambitions,” Gowdy said. “When people chose Donald Trump in 2024, they gave not one thought to the possibility that Americans would be shot in cars or on the street and labeled domestic terrorists before even an initial investigation was conducted.”Noem and Trump’s White House chief of staff Stephen Miller branded Good and Pretti “domestic terrorists” swiftly after the American citizens were shot dead by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis in January. Their remarks prompted uproar and sparked protests across the country. Noem was ultimately fired by Trump after she claimed he was aware of a $143 million ad campaign (AFP/Getty)Trump, meanwhile, has admitted his federal crackdown on illegal immigrants went too far and may have alienated voters.“I think it might be too tough, yeah,” he admitted on Sunday night’s installment of 60 Minutes on CBS News. “And a lot of people would say that it’s great. But a lot of people think it’s too tough.”Noem was ultimately fired by Trump after her response to the killings, and after she claimed he was aware of her expensive ad campaign during a disastrous congressional hearing in March.At the hearing, Noem said the president told her: “I want you to do those [ads] for the border. I want you to do those everywhere, not just in the United States, but I want them around the world.”“And I said, ‘Well, sir, do you want to be in those ads?’” Noem said. “He said ‘nope, nope. I want you to do them.’”Trump then denied her claim in a post on Truth Social.After she was ousted from the Department of Homeland Security, the Trump administration appointed her special envoy for the Shield of the Americas. She is no longer serving in the role and claimed it was “always a six-month appointment.”