Kristi Noem says Trump could use a female running mate

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said she doesn’t care if she is not on the list of potential vice presidents. But she did say that presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump would benefit from having a female running mate on the ballot.

“I've told President Trump over and over again, he needs to pick whoever helps him win. I have been loyal to him since the very beginning when he first started to run in 2016. He's told me his priority is picking a running mate that can govern on day one,” Noem said in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on "State of the Union" Sunday morning.

“I don't care. I love my job in South Dakota. I care about the fact that I want him to win.”

But Noem did say it would benefit Trump to pick a female running mate, especially to help him with female voters in swing states. Of the list of seven potential running mates currently known, there is one woman, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik.

“I think that that would be beneficial,” Noem said. “According to the polling that I've seen for him, in a lot of swing states, is that having a woman that is helping him campaign makes a difference.”

Earlier this year, Noem was considered a potential vice presidential pick for the former president. But Noem’s name was noticeably absent from a recent list of candidates who are known to be under the vetting process currently. Besides Stefanik, that list also includes Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.

Just a few months ago, Noem came under fire — from Democrats and Republicans alike — for a story included in her memoir about her shooting her puppy Cricket in a gravel pit. In the interview with Bash, Noem defended her decision to kill the dog, saying it was a “difficult decision.”

“That story's a 20-year-old story of a mom who made a very difficult decision to protect her children from a vicious animal that was attacking livestock and killing livestock and attacking people,” Noem said. “So it's in the book because it was difficult for me.”

While Noem in the interview did not outright answer whether she regrets killing her dog — and including the anecdote in her memoir — she said she has “learned a lot” from tough situations.

“I've learned that challenging times and hard decisions are hard,” Noem said. “And that when you get into public office, you'd learn from every single one of them and you use that knowledge to go forward and to make wise decisions that are best for America.”