Trump backs Mike Lindell in Minnesota governor race

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump endorsed MyPillow founder Mike Lindell in Minnesota’s gubernatorial election. With the move, Trump snubbed Kendall Qualls — who earned the state party’s endorsement in May — to bolster Lindell, who has routinely supported Trump’s unfounded 2020 election fraud claims.

In his statement, Trump characterized Lindell as “one of America’s greatest and most hard working Patriots.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mike Lindell (@michaeljlindell)

After promoting conspiracies about the 2020 presidential election results, a judge found Lindell liable for defamation against election technology company Smartmatic. Last year, a federal judge ruled that Lindell made false statements about the company’s voting machines being rigged. Dominion Voting Systems also launched a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit against Lindell, which ended in a settlement agreement earlier this month where both parties agreed to pay their own legal fees. A former Republican election official purchased Dominion, now known as Liberty Vote, last year.

Minnesota governor race

Lindell failed to win the Minnesota Republican party’s endorsement at the state convention in May. The pillow businessman fell off the ballot after the fifth round of voting, finishing third behind businessman Kendall Qualls and Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring). The delegates eventually selected Qualls after the 10th round, despite Demuth being ahead of him and Lindell in recent general election polls.

Lindell has criticized Demuth for failing to stop alleged fraud in the state’s welfare assistance programs.

“This stuff happened under her watch, too. I don’t care that she’s a Republican. You can brag all you want … ‘Oh, I tried to set up something a year-and-a-half ago.’ Well, I’m sorry. It failed miserably,” Lindell said on WDAY’s “What’s On Your Mind?” radio program in March.

Demuth pointed to a failed 2019 bill she introduced to increase fraud penalties as evidence of her being against fraud. The Trump administration has routinely criticized Minnesota lawmakers, mainly Democrats, on the issue and conducted disruptive fraud investigations in the state.

Even though Lindell isn’t expected to win the nomination, he will appear on the ballot for Minnesota’s Aug. 11 primary elections. The winner will face U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) in the general election, who is now seeking the governor’s mansion. Incumbent Tim Walz is not seeking a third term after initially starting a campaign.