Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has spent plenty of time trying to look like she belongs in high-risk, law-and-order situations — even as the gaps between the image and the know-how keep showing themselves. Without any real experience in federal law enforcement or hands-on DHS operations, her attempts to project authority have a habit of unraveling the moment cameras linger a little too long.
That disconnect is back in the spotlight after old footage started making the rounds again, dropping Noem right back into the internet’s crosshairs. Noem leads hard into her ICE Barbie persona in full tough-talk cosplay mode. She’s decked out in tactical gear, ball cap pulled low, makeup and earrings untouched, standing confidently between men who clearly do this for a living.
The setup is meant to signal authority and proximity to power, but the longer the camera lingers, the more the performance starts to feel staged — and slightly unmoored from what’s actually happening around her.
In the video from last April in Arizona, Noem tells viewers she’s going to “roll” with two Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who are standing next to her, but she disturbingly doesn’t seem to know where they’re going or who they’re targeting.
“We’re going to go out and pick up somebody who I think is, had charges of human trafficking,” the former South Dakota governor says uncertainly.
But that’s not the only uncertain thing in the video. It’s unclear whether one of the ICE agents next to Noem will survive the encounter with her, let alone chasing criminals in the field.
Noem is precariously pointing the military, machine gun-style weapon right at the agents’ head and bouncing it up and down as she talks. One wrong move or slip of her finger and it’s lights out for that agent, who manages to keep a serious face while sunglasses shade the fear that must be in his eyes.
The video was reposted Wednesday, Jan. 28, and went viral again two days after Noem met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office as the administration tries to tamp down the outrage over Border Patrol agents’ killing of 37-year-old Veterans Administration ICU nurse Alex Pretti in the administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.
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Social media erupted in a frenzy over the video, with posters astounded at Noem’s clear ineptitude and dangerous behavior
“She’s literally pointing the gun at that dudes Head, right? Am I seeing that right?” this Threads user keenly observed.
“Someone said ‘this is the closest an ice agent has ever been to getting shot’ because of the way she was holding the gun,” Threads user Amay.a100 pointed out.
“This video is pathetic, its embarrassing to me as an American,” poster Jon Jordan proclaimed.
Others could not believe Noem didn’t know the target of the mission she was about to take part in.
“She…’thinks’ has charges of human trafficking. She thinks. Sure, Jan,” a Threads user stated sarcastically.
Several others took notice of “Brian” and his split-section reaction when he noticed the barrel of the gun.
“What the agent on the right look down at the barrel and take a small step back when he realizes it’s pointed directly at his face. F***ing clowns,” mocked one viewer.
Noem has been at the center of a firestorm after DHS agents killed two Americans in the past two weeks in Minneapolis, the latest victim on Saturday Jan. 24 when Pretti was gunned down after he was subdued and lying in the street.
Noem and Trump’s Immigration policy architect deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller both came out immediately after Pretti’s killing, calling him a “domestic terrorist,” the exact name they called mother of three Renee Good after an ICE agent gunned her down in her car as she was trying to leave a growing protest on Jan. 7.
The outrage over Pretti and Good’s killing has even pushed some Republicans to call for Noem to step down.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski are both calling for Noem to resign, according to NBC News.
Tillis even went so far as to tell reporters he has no confidence in Noem’s leadership.
“I think she should go.”
