South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem faces lawsuit after viral endorsement of Texas dentists

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South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem was hit with a lawsuit accusing her of “misleading and deceptive selling” after she posted a viral dental endorsement video on social media earlier this week. 

Vacationers United, a consumer advocacy group, filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Washington, D.C. 

“Vacationers United sued South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem for failing to accurately disclose a medical tourism business that she posted on all of her personal social media platforms,” reads an overview of the swimsuit shared to the advocacy group’s website, which grouped it beneath licensed claims related to “journey influencers.”

Noem — a Republican who for a time appeared poised to enter the 2024 presidential race and has billed herself as a doable vice presidential resolve for former President Donald Trump as he campaigns for his private reelection — confronted backlash along with widespread scrutiny after initially sharing the video on Monday night time time. The governor herself starred inside the promotional clip, which was styled like a typical infomercial and seen her giving reward to “the workforce at Smile Texas,” a magnificence dental office, for performing a course of that Noem praised for fixing her enamel and giving her a smile that she talked about she “can be happy with.” 

“I like my new family at Smile Texas!” Noem captioned the video clip on X, beforehand Twitter. “The video says all of it, and I am so grateful for his or her help fixing my smile for me.”

An Instagram submit by Smile Texas, which included the video of Noem, referred to her as a “gracious principal girl” who “merely acquired an authorities, feminine, pretty smile proper right here at Smile Texas.” Noem talked about she sought the dental course of resulting from a biking accident a lot of years previously that knocked out just a few of her enamel.

The lawsuit alleges that Noem, in sharing the Smile Texas plug to her personal social accounts with none kind of label, “marketed a providers or merchandise with out disclosing that she has a financial relationship with that agency.” It moreover accuses the governor of violating a Federal Commerce Price requirement that social posts disclose whether or not or not they’re adverts or not with a marker that claims, “Advert.”

“Governor Kristi Noem is the Governor of South Dakota for a residing nevertheless seems to have taken up work as a social media influencer as of March 12, 2024,” the lawsuit says. 

CBS Info contacted Noem’s office for comment nevertheless did not receive a direct reply. 

The lawsuit bought right here as North Dakota State Sen. Reynold Nesiba, a Democrat, generally known as for an investigation into Noem’s viral dental video, the Associated Press reported. Nesiba requested the co-chairs of the state legislature’s Authorities Operations and Audit Committee in order so as to add the issue of Noem’s alleged business to the agenda for his or her subsequent meeting in July, primarily based on the outlet.

“This informercial raises quite a lot of questions,” Nesiba wrote Wednesday in a submit on social media.