Trump Endorsed MyPillow Guy as Governor of Minnesota. The GOP administration is not buying it

Mike Lindell is a former drug addict turned pillow salesman with no experience in political office. He has spent the last six years, with millions of dollars, promoting conspiracy theories, even saying that. “the devil” stole the 2020 election.

Lindell is now running for governor of Minnesota and already has the endorsement of President Donald Trump.

“Mike will be SPECTACULAR!!! He loves Minnesota, as do I, and wants it back from oblivion and shame,” Trump said. he wrote on Truth Social. Weekend, Trump he praised Lindell to his face at the fundraiser, I will also promote Lindell on Tuesday, writing: “Mike Lindell would be a GREAT Governor. He loves Minnesota with all his heart.”

When polls show Lindell is the favorite to win the Republican nomination in the August 11 primary, a Trump endorsement that has not been welcomed by the Minnesota GOP.

“We were surprised by President Trump’s endorsement of Mike Lindell,” Alex Plechash, chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party, wrote in a statement. posted on the party’s website hours after Trump’s first endorsement. Plechash went on to criticize Lindell’s history:

“When things got tough under Tim Walz, Mike Lindell left Minnesota for Texas,” the party chairman wrote. “Now he wants Minnesota Republicans to ignore his huge financial assets, state records that show tens of thousands of dollars in criminal tax dollars, serious electoral concerns, and unanswered questions about who he is running for.” Minnesota can’t afford to pick a ticket that gives Democrats an easy target. Lindell says he was in debt many thousands of dollars in Minnesota property tax arrears—which they say have now been paid—and they haven’t registered to vote in the state until this week.

Although Lindell’s chances of winning the primary are high, analysts and local Republicans believe he has a strong chance against Democratic nominee Amy Klobuchar in the November election. And the ambivalence over Lindell’s endorsement highlights the difficulty Republicans face when their choices clash with Trump, who they can’t afford to upset. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Plechash’s comments.

“I’d like to think this was as simple as the party saying they don’t want Lindell, but they can’t say it in a way that angers the president,” Blois Olson, a Minnesota political analyst, tells WIRED. “It’s true because they’re not pissing off the president, they’re pissing off Trump’s most ardent supporters, MAGA Minnesotans, who want him in November.

Lindell rose to national political prominence after the 2020 election where he became one of the majors. many vocal supporters and donors about the baseless false theory that the vote was stolen from Trump. Over the next few years, Lindell supported fundraising groups, conducting meetings and he made a moviethey are all talking about election fraud. By 2022, Lindell he said he spent $40 million of his money on the cause.

Lindell was also sued by the polling companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic for defaming what their machine has stolen. While the Dominion case ended with a settlement agreement (with both parties paying themselves), the Smartmatic case continues. Lindell’s legal fees reached millions.

Instead of being welcomed by the local party, Lindell says the Minnesota GOP has done everything possible to destroy his campaign, including failing to provide him with a list of delegates and barring him from speaking engagements and forums. Lindell says he doesn’t know why the Minnesota Republican Party is doing this.