WASHINGTON — Shocking photos of Kristi Noem’s cross-dressing husband sporting large fake breasts have sparked a new Washington drama — who created the story and why?
One theory among Republican strategists who know Noem is that he may have had a hand in the Daily Mail leaks as part of a prank to rehabilitate his image after President Trump fired him as Homeland Security Secretary.
“I think he may have leaked it,” one insider told The Post. The other three said they did not rule out the possibility.
It’s all part of a comeback tour that she and her longtime mentor and lover Corey Lewandowski are planning for one possible goal: winning the White House.
Shocking allegations that Byron Noem cross-dresses and chats online with ghost models have been seen by some strategists as a ploy to help the pair overcome a series of controversies after their careers crashed and burned following a March 3 Senate hearing.
“I think Corey Lewandowski is trying to take the eyes off one scandal and set the stage for Secretary to divorce and live happily ever after,” a source who knows the two told The Post.
Noem and Lewandowski did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Noem’s response to the story of her husband — who lives in South Dakota while she and Lewandowski are reportedly living together in a Coast Guard commander’s residence at a military base in Washington, DC, — was quick and clear shortly after the news broke.
“Mrs. Noem is devastated. The family was shocked by this, and is asking for privacy and prayers at this time,” her spokesperson told The Post.
The Noems have been married for 34 years and have three grown children. Lewandowski has been married to Alison Hardy Lewandowski since 2005, and they have four children.
But many Washington insiders doubt that Noem — who has been in the running to be President Trump’s 2024 running mate — has enough goodwill with the public.
“I’m not sure that the ‘My husband is a dork with weird charms’ card is enough to garner the necessary sympathy,” the source said.
“Although I’d be lying if I said that this is going to be a great story for the next episode of ‘Love Story’.”
Noem and Lewandowski have long been eyeing the Oval Office, multiple Republican sources told The Post.
The bitter allegations about her husband Bryon’s double life may help that desire by recasting Noem as a sympathetic, wronged wife, in the same vein as Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin, according to friends.
Both Clinton and Abedin survived the embarrassing revelations about their husbands’ personal lives and continued to thrive.
(Notably, Noem has been fighting off reports that she was separating from her husband as of 2021.)
The former governor of South Dakota’s quest for the highest office in the land goes back years and has an unlikely beginning: Kanye West.
The rapper called Noem personally asking her to be his running mate in 2020 in his independent race.
And Lewandowski pushed him to agree, sources said.
While he ultimately refused, Noem would spend the next six years working to destroy his national profile and build ties with Trump’s powerful MAGA base — trying to lay the groundwork for his presidential bid.
Others warn that the plot could backfire. Hillary Clinton, for example, successfully entered the Senate, but the burden she carried made her so unpopular that she lost the presidential election in 2016 – to Trump.
“The chicken officially sent the cage to Kristi Noem who was able to restore her reputation after this,” said an insider who knows her.
The person went on to say that Noem’s “original sin” was dating Lewandowski, who is despised by many in the GOP establishment.
His saving grace has been his strong relationship with Trump.
“It’s not that she cheated on her husband in a public way, but she did it with someone who is insulted all over the world,” said the source.
Meanwhile, Lewandowski is standing next to him.
Here’s the latest on Kristi Noem’s husband’s weird ‘bimbofication’ scandal
He plays a behind-the-scenes mastermind in negotiating a public relations nightmare for the politically ambitious Noem, sources tell The Post.
She was last seen with him last week when Noem ended his tenure at DHS in disgrace, traveling to South America on a luxury government jet.
On that trip, she shed her “ICE Barbie” image of vests, guns, and heavy makeup, swapping them for professional suits as she traveled to the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guyana, and Ecuador, where she was awarded a medal of honor.
It was a regular support role for Lewandowski, who held an unpaid but powerful role at the Department of Homeland Security during his tenure as secretary.
He lost the gig when Trump fired him, but that didn’t drive the two apart, insiders say.
“He’s a survivor,” a top Republican strategist who knows the two well told The Post.
