Fact Check: Did Kristi Noem wear a pink sombrero for her birthday celebration?

WATERTOWN, SOUTH DAKOTA: A short video that went viral on social media in December 2025 claimed to show US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem celebrating her birthday at a Mexican restaurant. In the clip, Noem is seen wearing a bright pink sombrero while staff sing “Feliz cumpleaños,” the Spanish version of “Happy Birthday.”

The video quickly sparked outrage, memes, and criticism over perceived insensitivity and hypocrisy. Many viewers questioned the optics of Noem celebrating in a Mexican restaurant amid the Department of Homeland Security’s continued efforts to detain and deport individuals without lawful status in the US. Critics pointed out that these policies disproportionately affected Mexican and Latin American communities.

Claim: A viral video shows Kristi Noem wearing a pink sombrero at a Mexican restaurant for her birthday 

The viral clip genuinely showed Kristi Noem celebrating her 54th birthday at a Mexican restaurant in late November 2025. In the video, she appears smiling and clapping along as the restaurant staff sing “Happy Birthday” in Spanish while she wears a pink sombrero.

Social media users reacted strongly. One X user wrote, “Kristi Noem has the nerve to have her 54th birthday dinner at a Mexican restaurant and even wears a sombrero and has them sing Happy Birthday in Spanish! This shows what a total piece of crap she is mocking the people she has deported.” Posts like this circulated across Facebook, Threads, Instagram, Reddit, and Bluesky, driving the video’s rapid spread.

Fact check: Kristi Noem wore a pink sombrero 

Kristi Noem herself shared the footage on her public Facebook profile on November 29, 2025, one day before her birthday. Her official congressional biography confirms her birthdate as November 30, 1971, matching the timing of the video.

Snopes verified the location as a Mexican restaurant in Watertown, South Dakota, Noem’s hometown. Additional photos and screenshots from both Noem and her husband, Bryon Noem, showed the secretary celebrating with family, including one of her grandchildren and Bryon’s parents.

There were no indications of AI manipulation. The lighting, shadows, audio, and camera movement were consistent with a standard phone recording.

Kristi Noem’s past controversies

Noem captioned her Facebook post reflecting on Thanksgiving week: “Moments this week to celebrate how thankful we are for all of God’s blessings… Hope your Thanksgiving was full of memories and love.” The post included multiple images and videos from the family gathering, indicating the birthday dinner was part of a broader holiday celebration.

This episode adds to a series of viral moments surrounding Noem. Snopes has previously fact-checked claims about her thanking Donald Trump for keeping hurricanes away and questioned her use of legal terms such as “habeas corpus.” As a high-profile conservative figure, nearly everything she posts online attracts scrutiny. In this case, however, the controversy stemmed from genuine footage, not digital manipulation.