Kacey Musgraves Hits Back at Kristi Noem's Ella Langley Tweet With Dog-Shooting Jab: 'You Would Have Shot It'

Kacey Musgraves has fired back at Kristi Noem after the former Homeland Security secretary compared the country singer unfavourably with Ella Langley. Noem also backed Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton over Democrat James Talarico.

Musgraves responded on X on Monday, 12 October, with a pointed reference to Noem's past admission that she shot and killed her family dog, Cricket. The exchange followed Talarico's appearance at Musgraves' Dallas concert over the weekend, where the Texas Democrat shared photos from the show and thanked the singer for having him.

Noem Takes Aim at Musgraves and Talarico

Talarico attended Musgraves' Middle of Nowhere tour show at the American Airlines Center on Saturday, 10 October. He posted photos of himself with the singer the following day, writing: 'Thank you for having me last night, Kacey Musgraves!'

Noem responded on X with a post featuring Talarico and Musgraves. 'I'll take @ellalangleymsic over Kacey Musgraves any day,' she wrote. 'And if I'm choosin' Texas, I'll take Ken Paxton over James Talarico.'

Rolling Stone reported that Langley appeared to untag herself from Noem's post. Noem's reference to the singer also echoed the title of Langley's hit song 'Choosin' Texas', turning the song title into a political comparison between the two singers. Paxton is Talarico's Republican opponent in the 2026 Texas Senate race.

Musgraves Responds With Dog-Shot Remark

Musgraves' one-line reply quickly became the focus of the exchange, directly invoking the incident detailed in Noem's 2024 memoir, No Going Back. 'I don't think you have a dog in this fight but if you did you would have shot it,' Musgraves' one-line reply read.

In the memoir, Noem wrote that Cricket, a 14-month-old wirehaired pointer she was training for pheasant hunting, was 'untrainable' after showing aggressive behaviour and killing chickens. 'I hated that dog,' she wrote.

She wrote that she decided she 'had to put her down' before taking the dog to a gravel pit and shooting her. The account sparked widespread criticism when excerpts from the memoir emerged in 2024, while Noem defended the decision as a difficult but necessary choice.

Musgraves did not name Cricket in her post, but her wording directly referred to Noem's account of their family dog's death.

Talarico's Role in the Row

Talarico's appearance at Musgraves' concert came as he returned to the campaign trail after an absence that his campaign attributed to flu. Noem subsequently used the concert photos in a post backing Paxton while taking a swipe at Musgraves.

Talarico and Paxton are competing in the 2026 Texas Senate general election, a race that has attracted national attention. Talarico has also received support from prominent Texas country musicians, including Willie Nelson, who recently endorsed him in a campaign video. 'He's a good man who will be a good senator for the state of Texas,' Nelson said.

Talarico was also ahead of Paxton in a recent Trafalgar poll of likely Texas voters, with 47.1 per cent support compared with Paxton's 43.6 per cent, Variety reported. Neither Langley nor Paxton was directly involved in the exchange between Noem and Musgraves. As of publication, Musgraves' post remained her latest public response to Noem's comments.