Writer for 'The Atlantic' Bizarrely Drags Kristi Noem into Fall of Kabul

The Twitter feed of Tom Nichols, a contributing writer for The Atlantic, is full of tweets and retweets about the failure in Afghanistan. But the digs aren't merely towards the Biden administration. Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) gets dragged into it as well.

I deleted this because it was too short. I wanted to make the point even more directly, as I did here. A charlatan like Noem riding through a superspreader event with a flag while Kabul falls is America, 2021: Unserious, self-destructive, faux patriotic.https://t.co/ifW81iXXc4 pic.twitter.com/qqici10npx
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) August 15, 2021

Somewhere, someone is mad about my Kristi Noem take, and probably writing a Twitchy story about it, because MAGA world is whining.

So I'll just repeat it.

This image captures why we are not a country that could take a problem like Afghanistan seriously.https://t.co/hsUmYbQrFf
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) August 15, 2021

While Nichols clarified he wanted to make his point "even more directly," that didn't spare him from getting called out about how much of a stretch it was.

pic.twitter.com/6AAt3BBQyN
— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) August 15, 2021

You’ve achieved the incredible feat wherein every tweet’s inherent inanity outmatches every one before, such that whenever anyone reads anything you’ve written they already know it’s your dumbest take ever
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) August 15, 2021

What is the governor of.. checks notes... South Dakota (pop. ~ 900,000) supposed to do about Afghanistan?
I feel empathy for the Afghans, but it's at a time like this where I am proud to live in a society where a female governor can ride through town on a horse and be applauded.
— Cool Runnings (@_coolrunnings) August 15, 2021

Tom Nichols is mad that the governor of South Dakota isn't doing more to help the people of Kabul pic.twitter.com/ARBqd7cVkI
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) August 15, 2021

I AM TOM NICHOLS AND I DEMAND THE GOVERNOR OF SOUTH DAKOTA STOP THE TALIBAN IN KABUL!!!! https://t.co/B4JEePBPf7
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) August 15, 2021

"That republican governor is riding around on a horse while Kabul falls under a Democrat President" is so breathtakingly laughable that only Tom Nichols could come up with it.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) August 15, 2021

DeSantis finally off the hook!
— Marbukh (@A_Mar82) August 15, 2021

When Andrew Follett, a senior analyst at the conservative organization Club for Growth, reminded that Biden was on vacation at Camp David, it led to this exchange.

I mean, Toms position is that somehow riding in a parade is evil if ur the governor of South Dakota and there's a national disaster...

So one would think that hiding at Camp David is also bad.
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) August 15, 2021

Nichols continued to double down over Twitter, sharing and mocking many negative responses he's received in reaction. He particularly focused on those who highlighted Noem's attractiveness.

The people losing their shit over a comment about Kristi Noem being the emblem of an unserious country are determined to prove my point about being an unserious country.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) August 16, 2021

Honestly, some of the weird stuff I'm getting really is the "fighting over the honor of a woman." There are some guys out there who seem a little overly attached to Noem. https://t.co/WP0qRWrzeS
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) August 16, 2021

Caller just left a message that said: "Have you SEEN Kristi Noem?"

And then threatened to beat me up. Because apparently, she's attractive, and so...well, I'm sure it makes sense somehow.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) August 16, 2021

Nichols did post a more serious Twitter thread later in the evening, which ultimately served as a preview and a warning that he will be writing more about it for The Atlantic on Monday.