CASTLE ROCK, SD — South Dakotans are standing behind DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s hubby, Byron — even with his penchant for wearing hot pants and oversized fake breasts.
Residents of the Mount Rushmore State fiercely defended the former first husband after he was exposed as a cross-dresser with a “bimbofication” fetish.
“Y’all should be sympathetic, he’s a father,” a surly staff member at a Watertown strip club told The Post when the topic veered toward the scandal.
A bartender at the jiggle-joint chimed in, “we don’t think of them as politicians, we think of them as parents.”
After the scandal broke last week, the ousted DHS chief said via a spokesperson that she was “devastated” to learn of her husband’s involvement with the “bimbofication” fetish community, and that the family was “blindsided” by the embarrassing revelation.
Her wayward hubby compounded the humiliation in a series of saucy message exchanges first reported by the Daily Mail, including multiple selfies wearing massive fake breasts, some with his face fully visible.
The Post staked out the Noem family home, which has been locked down by the Secret Service, but there was little sign of domestic activity over the Easter weekend.
At one point, a new black SUV briefly pulled into the driveway before departing with another vehicle and speeding down the highway toward Minneapolis.
“I don’t think they’re in town. When they’re in town, you know it, a bartender at a local watering hole, who asked not to be named, said.
The suds-slinger said the Noems were a topic of gossip around town even before the scandal broke.
“We don’t think of them as hometown heroes, just hometown people,” she said.
Several people claimed to know the clinic where Kristi Noem has gotten cosmetic surgery over the years, and claimed one of the couple’s daughters was arrested for marijuana possession in high school, though The Post was unable to independently substantiate it.
Another bartender — working at a restaurant called The Local — said the Noems have been there before, but not lately.
“Secret Service was in here, though. They took up the entire bar … I don’t know where they are now, I know there’s security at the house.”
A pair of men playing poker at a local casino claimed to know the couple, one saying he had the former governor’s number saved in his phone.
“All I will tell you is he’s a good man,” the other gambler said of Bryon, whom he said he knew.
The Post stopped by several of the Noems’ known haunts in Watertown, including feed stores and Kristi’s mother’s favorite restaurant, but patrons were reluctant to share any gossip about the couple and their unconventional marriage.
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